Shloka 8
शरद्वर्णनं, योगोपमा, तथा गोवर्धन-यज्ञप्रवर्तनम्
शनकैः शनकैस् तीरं तत्यजुश् च जलाशयाः ममत्वं क्षेत्रपुत्रादिरूढम् उच्चैर् यथा बुधाः
śanakaiḥ śanakais tīraṃ tatyajuś ca jalāśayāḥ mamatvaṃ kṣetraputrādirūḍham uccair yathā budhāḥ
Just as lakes and reservoirs little by little forsake their banks, so the wise gradually cast off the loudly-rooted sense of “mine”—possessiveness fastened upon field, child, and the rest.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Concept: Wise persons relinquish the entrenched sense of ‘mine’ progressively, as water slowly withdraws from a shoreline.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Practice staged renunciation: simplify possessions, loosen identity around family/property, and redirect attachment toward God-centered duty.
Vishishtadvaita: Detachment is not nihilistic; it reorders attachment from finite ‘mine’ to the Supreme as the true owner and inner ruler.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
This verse treats mamatva as a deeply rooted bondage—especially toward property and family—that must be steadily relinquished for spiritual clarity and liberation.
He frames it as gradual: like water slowly leaving a shoreline, the wise loosen attachment step by step rather than through abrupt, unstable rejection.
Detachment is presented as a prerequisite for turning from transient ‘mine-ness’ toward the enduring Supreme Reality—Vishnu—who alone is ultimate refuge beyond worldly ownership.