Shloka 13
महाभिष-गङ्गा-दर्शनं वसूनां शापकथनं च
Mahābhiṣa Encounters Gaṅgā; The Vasus Explain Their Curse
शरीरभेदाभिसमुच्छूयं च चक्षु:श्रोत्रे लभते केन संज्ञाम् एतत तत्त्वं सर्वमाचक्ष्व पृष्ट: क्षेत्रज्ञ त्वां तात मन्याम सर्वे,गर्भमें आनेपर वह भिन्न-भिन्न शरीररूपी आश्रयको, आँख और कान आदि इन्द्रियोंको तथा चेतनाको भी कैसे उपलब्ध करता है? मेरे पूछनेपर ये सब बातें आप बताइये। तात! हम सब लोग आपको क्षेत्रज्ञ (आत्मज्ञानी) मानते हैं
Aṣṭaka uvāca | śarīrabhedābhisamucchūyaṃ ca cakṣuḥśrotre labhate kena saṃjñām | etat tattvaṃ sarvam ācakṣva pṛṣṭaḥ kṣetrajña tvāṃ tāta manyāma sarve ||
Aṣṭaka said: “When the embodied being enters the womb, by what means does it obtain its distinct bodily supports, along with the faculties such as sight and hearing, and also consciousness itself? Asked by me, explain this entire truth. Dear sir, we all regard you as a knower of the Field (kṣetrajña), one who understands the Self.”
अष्टक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a philosophical inquiry into embodiment: how consciousness (saṃjñā) and the sense-faculties arise in a developing body, and it points toward the kṣetrajña doctrine—distinguishing the inner knower (Self) from the bodily ‘field’ and its instruments.
Aṣṭaka respectfully questions a revered interlocutor regarded as a kṣetrajña (Self-knower), asking for an explanation of how, upon entering the womb, a being comes to possess differentiated bodies and faculties like sight and hearing, along with conscious awareness.