Shloka 8
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
तिर्यग्योनिसहस्रेषु कदाचिद् देवतास्वपि । अभिमन्यत्यभीमानात् तथैव सुकृतान्यपि
tiryagyonisahasreṣu kadācid devatāsv api | abhimanyaty abhīmānāt tathaiva sukṛtāny api ||
Vasiṣṭha dit : Par l’illusion née de l’orgueil du moi, un être tantôt s’identifie comme une créature parmi des milliers de matrices animales, tantôt se rengorge d’être un dieu. Et poussé par ce même ego, il doit aussi subir les fruits des actes—même des actes bons—accomplis à travers ces corps respectifs.
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Identification with a particular status—animal or divine—arises from abhimāna (egoic self-conceit). That ego-driven identification binds the being to experience the fruits of actions performed in those embodied states, including the results of meritorious deeds.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing his listener in a reflective, philosophical mode typical of the Śānti Parva: he describes how the jīva, through pride and misidentification, alternates between low and high births and consequently undergoes the karmic outcomes associated with each embodiment.