Shloka 22
आत्यन्तिक-लयहेतुः: तापत्रय-विवेचनम् तथा ‘भगवान्/वासुदेव’ शब्दार्थः
Threefold Suffering and the Path to Final Liberation; Meaning of Bhagavān and Vāsudeva
केन बन्धेन बद्धो ऽहं कारणं किम् अकारणम् किं कार्यं किम् अकार्यं वा किं वाच्यं किं च नोच्यते
kena bandhena baddho 'haṃ kāraṇaṃ kim akāraṇam kiṃ kāryaṃ kim akāryaṃ vā kiṃ vācyaṃ kiṃ ca nocyate
By what fetter am I bound? What is truly a cause, and what is without cause? What should be done, and what should not be done? What is fit to be spoken—and what should not be spoken at all?
Maitreya (inquiring of Sage Parāśara)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Bondage, causality, right action, and disciplined speech
Teaching: Ethical
Quality: revealing
Concept: Without viveka, one cannot identify the fetter of bondage, distinguish true causality, or know proper action and disciplined speech.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Practice daily discrimination: examine motives (bandha), align actions with dharma, and adopt measured speech (satya-hita-mita).
Vishishtadvaita: Bondage is not erased by mere negation but by right knowledge and surrender that reorients the jīva’s agency toward the Lord as the true cause and end.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
This verse frames bandha as a philosophical problem tied to causality and ethical discernment—setting up Parāśara’s teaching that bondage is sustained by ignorance and misdirected action, and is resolved by right knowledge and devotion aligned with dharma.
Maitreya’s questions here establish the need for a dharma-based criterion: actions are evaluated by their harmony with cosmic order and scriptural guidance, which Parāśara typically grounds in the governance of the Supreme Lord (Vishnu).
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the inquiry points toward a Vishnu-centered resolution: ultimate causality, moral order, and liberating knowledge are understood as rooted in the Supreme Reality who sustains and regulates the universe.