Shloka 2

सूक्ष्मभूत-भूतात्मविज्ञानम्

Knowing the subtle principle and the bhūtātman through yoga

Devanagari script

व्यास उवाच प्राप्प संस्कारमेताभ्यामाश्रमा भ्यां तत: परम्‌ । यत्कार्य परमार्थ तु तदिहैकमना: शूणु

Transliteration

vyāsa uvāca | prāpya saṃskāram etābhyām āśramābhyāṃ tataḥ param | yat kāryaṃ paramārthaṃ tu tad ihaikamanāḥ śṛṇu |

Translation

Vyāsa dit : «Mon fils, après avoir obtenu l’affinement intérieur grâce à ces deux étapes de la vie—brahmacarya (discipline de l’étudiant) et gṛhastha (devoir du maître de maison)—je vais maintenant t’énoncer la tâche véritable qui mène au bien suprême, à la délivrance. Ici, écoute d’un esprit unifié.»

Word by Word

• {'vyāsa uvāca': 'Vyāsa said', 'prāpya': 'having attained, having obtained', 'saṃskāram': 'refinement

• formative discipline of mind and character', 'etābhyām': 'by these two', 'āśramābhyām': 'by the two āśramas (life-stages)', 'tataḥ param': 'thereafter

• beyond that', 'yat': 'that which', 'kāryam': 'what is to be done

• task', 'paramārtham': 'the highest purpose

• supreme good (often implying mokṣa)', 'tu': 'but/indeed (emphatic)', 'tat': 'that', 'iha': 'here (in this teaching/context)', 'eka-manāḥ': 'single-minded

• concentrated', 'śṛṇu': 'listen'}

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Worldly life-stages like brahmacarya and gṛhastha are presented as preparatory disciplines that purify the mind; after such refinement, one should turn to the higher, liberation-oriented duty (paramārtha), approached with focused attention.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa, as teacher, transitions from discussing duties within earlier āśramas to introducing the next, higher instruction—what should be done for the supreme end—asking the listener to hear with concentrated mind.