Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 12
Rahūgaṇa Meets Jaḍa Bharata: The Shaking Palanquin and the Teaching Beyond Body-Identity
विशेषबुद्धेर्विवरं मनाक् च पश्याम यन्न व्यवहारतोऽन्यत् । क ईश्वरस्तत्र किमीशितव्यं तथापि राजन् करवाम किं ते ॥ १२ ॥
viśeṣa-buddher vivaraṁ manāk ca paśyāma yan na vyavahārato ’nyat ka īśvaras tatra kim īśitavyaṁ tathāpi rājan karavāma kiṁ te
王よ、もしなお「あなたが王で、私があなたの僕だ」とお考えなら、どうぞ命じてください。私はその命に従いましょう。この区別はただ世の慣習と用法によって広がるだけで、他の原因は見当たりません。では主人は誰で、僕は誰でしょうか。すべては物質自然の法則により強いられているのですから、真の主人も真の僕もいません。それでも私を僕と見なされるなら受け入れます—お命じください、何をいたしましょうか。
It is said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, ahaṁ mameti: One thinks, “I am this body, and in this bodily relationship he is my master, he is my servant, she is my wife, and he is my son.” All these conceptions are temporary due to the inevitable change of body and the arrangement of material nature. We are gathered together like straws floating in the waves of an ocean, straws that are inevitably separated by the laws of the waves. In this material world, everyone is floating on the waves of the ocean of nescience. As described by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura:
FAQs
This verse warns that taking social or bodily-based practicality as ultimate reality reveals a flaw in discrimination; from the standpoint of truth, the ideas of “controller” and “controlled” lose their meaning.
Rahūgaṇa judged Bharata through bodily and social roles (carrier, servant), so Bharata corrected him by pointing out the king’s misidentification with external dealings rather than the self’s reality.
Use duties and roles responsibly, but don’t equate them with your identity; practice stepping back from ego-driven labels (“boss,” “worker,” “status”) and cultivate self-inquiry and devotion to see beyond mere convention.