Shloka 6
Abhimanyu’s Assault on Bhīṣma’s Screen; Banner-Felling and Reinforcements (सौभद्र-भीष्म-समरः)
कर्षयन्त: शरीरस्थं भूतग्राममचेतस:7 । मां चैवान्त:शरीरस्थं तान् विद्धयासुरनिश्चयान्,जो शरीररूपसे स्थित भूतसमुदायको और अन्तःकरणमें स्थित मुझ परमात्माको भी कृश करनेवाले हैं,* उन अज्ञानियोंको तू आसुरस्वभाववाले जान
karṣayantaḥ śarīrasthaṁ bhūtagrāmam acetasaḥ | māṁ caivāntaḥśarīrasthaṁ tān viddhy āsuranīścayān ||
Those senseless people who torment the host of living elements dwelling in the body—and who also afflict Me, the indwelling Self seated within—know them to be of demonic resolve. The verse condemns self-torture and violent asceticism as ethically misguided, because it harms embodied life and disregards the divine presence within.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Austerities that injure the body and its living constituents are condemned as ignorant and ‘āsuric’ because they violate ethical restraint and fail to honor the divine Self present within all embodied life.
In the teaching on faith and austerity, the speaker criticizes misguided ascetic practices: people who, lacking discernment, punish the body and thereby also ‘afflict’ the indwelling Lord are identified as having a demonic, unrighteous resolve.