Shloka 7
Adhyāya 180: Jīva, Śarīra, and the Fire Analogy (भृगु–भरद्वाज संवादः)
नानुतिष्ठसि धर्मार्थी न कामे चापि वर्तसे । इन्द्रियार्थाननादृत्य मुक्तश्चरसि साक्षिवत्
nānutiṣṭhasi dharmārthī na kāme cāpi vartase | indriyārthān anādṛtya muktaś carasi sākṣivat ||
प्रह्लाद बोले— आप धर्म और अर्थ के लिए कर्मानुष्ठान नहीं करते और न ही काम में आपकी प्रवृत्ति है। इन्द्रियों के समस्त विषयों की उपेक्षा करके आप साक्षी के समान मुक्तभाव से विचरते हैं।
प्रह्माद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ideal of inner freedom: one who sets aside the pull of sense-objects and does not chase the usual aims of dharma-artha-kāma can live in a liberated, witness-like mode—acting (or refraining) without attachment and self-centered craving.
Prahlāda addresses a person whose conduct appears radically detached: they are not pursuing ritual/social duties for dharma and artha, nor indulging in kāma. Prahlāda characterizes this lifestyle as that of a mukta, moving through life as a sākṣī (witness), and implicitly probes the basis of such renunciation.