Shloka 52

Devanagari script

अमृत्युर्मुत्युमात्मानमचरश्नचरमात्मन: । अक्षेत्र: क्षेत्रमात्मानमसर्ग: सर्गमात्मन:,वह मृत्युसे सर्वथा रहित है तो भी अपनेको मृत्युग्रस्त मानता है। अचर होनेपर भी अपनेको चलने-फिरनेवाला मानता है। क्षेत्रसे भिन्न होनेपर भी अपनेको क्षेत्र मानता है। सृष्टिसे उसका कोई सम्बन्ध नहीं होनेपर भी सृष्टिको अपनी ही समझता है

Transliteration

amṛtyur mṛtyum ātmānam acaraś caram ātmanaḥ | akṣetraḥ kṣetram ātmānam asargaḥ sargam ātmanaḥ ||

Translation

Vasiṣṭha dijo: «Aunque en verdad está libre de la muerte, se imagina sujeto a la muerte. Aunque inmóvil, se toma por movedor. Aunque distinto del “campo” (kṣetra: el cuerpo y sus condiciones), se identifica con ese campo. Aunque ajeno a la creación, toma la creación por su propio ser. Así, por mala aprehensión, el Sí mismo es confundido con aquello que solo ilumina, y la servidumbre nace de una falsa identificación, no de la realidad».

Word by Word

अमृत्युःone who is deathless

मृत्युम्death

आत्मानम्the self

अचरम्immobile, non-moving

चरम्moving, mobile

आत्मनःof the self

अक्षेत्रःone who is not the field (i.e., distinct from the body/field)

क्षेत्रम्field; body (kṣetra)

आत्मानम्the self

असर्गःone who is not of creation (unconnected with emanation)

सर्गम्creation; emanation

आत्मनःof the self

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vasiṣṭha

Ātman

kṣetra

sarga

mṛtyu

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that bondage arises from misidentification: the deathless, unmoving Self is mistakenly taken to be the mortal, moving body-mind and the world of creation. Recognizing the Self as distinct from kṣetra (the field of experience) dissolves fear of death and the sense of limitation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Vasiṣṭha explains to his listener that the true Self is untouched by death, motion, embodiment, and creation; the apparent suffering of the individual comes from taking these non-self attributes to be ‘I’.