Shloka 8

अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa

Devanagari script

तिर्यग्योनिसहस्रेषु कदाचिद्‌ देवतास्वपि । अभिमन्यत्यभीमानात्‌ तथैव सुकृतान्यपि

Transliteration

tiryagyonisahasreṣu kadācid devatāsv api | abhimanyaty abhīmānāt tathaiva sukṛtāny api ||

Translation

ವಸಿಷ್ಠನು ಹೇಳಿದರು—ಅಭಿಮಾನದಿಂದ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದ ಮೋಹದಿಂದ ಅವನು ಕೆಲವೊಮ್ಮೆ ಸಾವಿರಾರು ತಿರ್ಯಗ್ಯೋನಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿನ ಜೀವನೆಂದು ತನ್ನನ್ನು ಭಾವಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ, ಮತ್ತೊಮ್ಮೆ ದೇವತ್ವದ ಗರ್ವವನ್ನು ಧರಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ; ಮತ್ತು ಅದೇ ಅಹಂಕಾರದ ಬಲದಿಂದ ಆ ಆ ದೇಹಗಳಿಂದ ಮಾಡಿದ ಸತ್ಕರ್ಮಗಳ ಫಲವನ್ನೂ ಅನುಭವಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ.

Word by Word

• तिर्यग्योनिसहस्रेषु: among thousands of animal-wombs (lower births)
• तिर्यग्योनिसहस्रेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तिर्यग्योनि-सहस्र
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Plural

• कदाचित्: sometimes
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कदाचित्

• देवतासु: among the gods/divinities
• देवतासु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: देवता
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Plural

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

• अभिमन्यति: thinks/imagines (himself to be)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अभि√मन्
• Form: Present (Lat), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• अभीमानात्: from/through (his) pride
• अभीमानात्: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अभिमान
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Singular

• तथा: thus/in that way
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• सुकृतानि: good deeds/merits
• सुकृतानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुकृत
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

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

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vasiṣṭha
• devatāḥ (gods)
• tiryag-yoni (animal births/species)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Identification with a particular status—animal or divine—arises from abhimāna (egoic self-conceit). That ego-driven identification binds the being to experience the fruits of actions performed in those embodied states, including the results of meritorious deeds.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha is instructing his listener in a reflective, philosophical mode typical of the Śānti Parva: he describes how the jīva, through pride and misidentification, alternates between low and high births and consequently undergoes the karmic outcomes associated with each embodiment.