Shloka 17
Bhūta-guṇa-saṃkhyāna
Enumeration of the Properties of the Elements and Cognitive Faculties
यथा वारिचर: पक्षी न लिप्यति जले चरन् । विमुक्तात्मा तथा योगी गुणदोषैर्न लिप्यते,जैसे जलचर पक्षी जलमें विचरता हुआ भी उससे लिप्त नहीं होता, उसी प्रकार मुक्तात्मा योगी संसारमें रहकर भी उसके गुण और दोषोंसे लिपायमान नहीं होता
yathā vāricaraḥ pakṣī na lipyati jale caran | vimuktātmā tathā yogī guṇadoṣair na lipyate ||
ヴィヤーサは説く。水に棲む鳥が水中を行き来しても水に染まらず縛られないように、解脱の心を得たヨーギーもまた世間に住しつつ、そのグナ（性質）と दोष（過失）に触れられない。倫理の要点は内なる自由である。社会にあって行い、住まいながらも、執着せず、自己同一化せず、出会うものによって道徳的に汚されないこと。
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
A truly liberated yogin remains inwardly unattached: even while living and acting in the world, he is not morally or psychologically stained by its attractions (guṇa) or defects (doṣa), just as a bird in water is not smeared by water.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Vyāsa is teaching through a vivid simile, clarifying how a person established in freedom can continue worldly life without being bound by it.