Shloka 11

अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa

Devanagari script

भस्मप्रस्तरशायी च भूमिशय्या तलेषु च । वीरस्थानाम्बुपड़के च शयनं फलकेषु च

Transliteration

bhasmaprastaraśāyī ca bhūmiśayyā taleṣu ca | vīrasthānāmbupaḍake ca śayanaṃ phalakeṣu ca ||

Translation

Vasiṣṭha dit : «Il s’étend sur des lits de cendre et de pierre ; tantôt il dort sur la terre nue et sur un sol dur. Tantôt il se repose dans la posture du héros ; tantôt il gît dans l’eau et la boue ; tantôt sur des planches et des couchettes de fortune.»

Word by Word

• भस्मप्रस्तरशायी: one who lies on ashes and stones
• भस्मप्रस्तरशायी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भस्मप्रस्तरशायिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• भूमिशय्या: one whose bed is the ground / ground-bed
• भूमिशय्या: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूमिशय्या
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• तलेषु: on surfaces/grounds
• तलेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तल
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• वीरस्थाने: in a hero’s place / on a warrior’s station (battlefield/post)
• वीरस्थाने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वीरस्थान
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• अम्बुपङ्के: in water-and-mud
• अम्बुपङ्के: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अम्बुपङ्क
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• शयनम्: sleeping/lying down; bed
• शयनम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शयन
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• फलकेषु: on planks/boards
• फलकेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: फलक
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vasiṣṭha
• ashes
• stone
• earth/ground
• water
• mud/mire
• wooden plank (phalaka)
• vīrāsana (heroic posture)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.