Shloka 12

Devanagari script

सर्वैरपि गुणैरविंद्वान्‌ व्यतिषक्तो न लिप्यते | जलबिन्दुर्यथा लोल: पद्मिनीपत्रसंस्थित:

Transliteration

sarvair api guṇair avindvān vyatiṣakto na lipyate | jalabindur yathā lolaḥ padminīpatrasaṁsthitaḥ ||

Translation

Vāyu-deva said: Even when a person is surrounded and interwoven with all kinds of qualities and conditions, if he remains unattached, he is not stained by them. Just as a trembling drop of water, resting upon a lotus leaf, does not cling to it, so too the wise remain in the world without being tainted by its contacts.

Word by Word

• सर्वैः: by all
• सर्वैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• अपि: even/also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• गुणैः: qualities/virtues
• गुणैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुण
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• अविन्द्वान्: not learned, not wise
• अविन्द्वान्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अविद्वस् (विद्वस्) / √विद् (to know)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• व्यतिषक्तः: entangled/attached (amid them)
• व्यतिषक्तः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: व्यतिषक्त (ppp of √सञ्ज्/√सज् with vi-ati-; 'entangled/attached')
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• लिप्यते: is tainted/defiled
• Type: Verb
• Root: √लिप् (to smear, taint)
• Form: Present, Passive (Ātmanepada form), 3rd, Singular

• जलबिन्दुः: a drop of water
• जलबिन्दुः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: जलबिन्दु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• यथा: as/just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• लोलः: trembling/unsteady
• लोलः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: लोल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पद्मिनीपत्रसंस्थितः: situated on a lotus-leaf
• पद्मिनीपत्रसंस्थितः: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पद्मिनीपत्रसंस्थित (ppp of सम्-√स्था 'to stand/be situated')
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वायुदेव (Vāyu-deva)
• जलबिन्दु (water-drop)
• पद्मिनीपत्र (lotus leaf)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

One should live amidst the guṇas and worldly contacts without inner clinging; true freedom is to remain unstained—like water on a lotus leaf—by practicing non-attachment and self-governance.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu-deva instructs through a vivid simile: although a person may be surrounded by many influences and qualities, he need not be morally or spiritually tainted if he does not grasp or identify with them.