Shloka 77
अविद्याबीज-निरूपणं, योगस्वरूप-उपदेशः, मूर्तहरिधारणा-समाधि, जनकवंशीय-राजर्षिसंवादः
अन्ये तु पुरुषव्याघ्र चेतसो ये व्यपाश्रयाः अशुद्धास् ते समस्तास् तु देवाद्याः कर्मयोनयः
anye tu puruṣavyāghra cetaso ye vyapāśrayāḥ aśuddhās te samastās tu devādyāḥ karmayonayaḥ
But, O tiger among men, all others who take the mind itself as their refuge remain unpurified; beginning even with the gods, all such beings are births that arise from karma.
Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Why reliance on mind-centered supports fails and why even gods remain within karmic birth.
Teaching: Philosophical
Quality: admonitory
Concept: Those who take the mind itself as refuge remain impure and continue in karmically conditioned births—even among the gods.
Vedantic Theme: Maya
Application: Shift practice from mind-as-ultimate to God-centered contemplation; treat thoughts as instruments, not as final authority.
Vishishtadvaita: Even exalted beings are jīvas bound by karma; purity comes through dependence on the Lord rather than autonomous mentation.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
This verse stresses that even divine births are conditioned by karma; godhood is an exalted but still karmically produced state, not final liberation.
He contrasts those who take refuge in mental supports—thus remaining ‘aśuddha’—with the purifying path that transcends mental dependence and karmic conditioning.
By implying that all karmic states (even divine) are conditioned, the text points beyond them to Vishnu as the Supreme Reality, the ultimate ground of liberation beyond mind and karma.