Shloka 20

Brāhmaṇa-māhātmya: Tārkṣya’s instruction on tapas, satya, and svadharma

Chapter 182

Devanagari script

मनसा तात पर्येति क्रमशो विषयानिमान्‌ | विषयायतनस्थो हि भूतात्मा क्षेत्रमास्थित:,तात! पाँचों विषयोंके आधारभूत पंचभूतोंसे बने हुए शरीरमें स्थित जीवात्मा इस शरीरमें स्थित हुआ ही मनके द्वारा क्रमशः इन पाँचों विषयोंका उपभोग करता है

Transliteration

manasā tāta paryeti kramaśo viṣayān imān | viṣayāyatana-stho hi bhūtātmā kṣetram āsthitaḥ ||

Translation

ಸರ್ಪನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ತಾತಾ! ಪಂಚಭೂತಗಳಿಂದ ನಿರ್ಮಿತವಾದ ಈ ದೇಹ-ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ಥಿತನಾದ ಜೀವಾತ್ಮನು ಮನಸ್ಸಿನ ಮೂಲಕ ಕ್ರಮಕ್ರಮವಾಗಿ ಈ ವಿಷಯಗಳತ್ತ ಚಲಿಸಿ ಅವುಗಳನ್ನು ಅನುಭವಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ.

Word by Word

मनसाby the mind

तातO dear (son)

पर्येतिgoes about; approaches; ranges over

क्रमशःin order; successively

विषयान्sense-objects

इमान्these

विषयायतनस्थःsituated in the abodes of the sense-objects

हिindeed; for

भूतात्माthe embodied self; the living being

क्षेत्रम्the field (body)

आस्थितःhaving entered; seated in; abiding in

तातO dear (son)

Speaker

सर्प उवाच

Characters & Entities

स

सर्प (serpent)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The self, while dwelling in the body as a ‘field’ of experience, engages sense-objects sequentially through the mind; therefore discipline of the mind is central to ethical restraint and freedom from attachment.

What is happening in the narrative?

A serpent is instructing a listener (addressed as ‘tāta’) in a reflective, philosophical mode, explaining how embodied experience occurs through the mind’s movement among the sense-objects.