Shloka 11
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
भस्मप्रस्तरशायी च भूमिशय्या तलेषु च । वीरस्थानाम्बुपड़के च शयनं फलकेषु च
bhasmaprastaraśāyī ca bhūmiśayyā taleṣu ca | vīrasthānāmbupaḍake ca śayanaṃ phalakeṣu ca ||
Vasiṣṭha dijo: «Se tiende sobre lechos de ceniza y piedra; a veces duerme en la tierra desnuda y en suelo duro. A veces reposa en la postura del héroe; a veces yace entre el agua y el lodo; y a veces sobre tablones de madera y camastros improvisados.»
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights detachment (vairāgya) through endurance of extremes: the disciplined person accepts any resting place—ashes, stone, earth, mud, or a plank—without craving comfort, indicating mastery over bodily preference and steadiness in dharma.
Vasiṣṭha is describing the varied, often harsh conditions in which an austere practitioner lives and sleeps. The catalogue of places and postures functions as a moral portrait of renunciant discipline rather than a literal travelogue.