Verse 10

Niralamba

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

जातिरिति च। न चर्मणो न रक्तस्य न मांसस्य न चास्थिनः। न जातिरात्मनो जातिर्व्यवहारप्रकल्पिता॥१०॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

जातिः इति च । न चर्मणः न रक्तस्य न मांसस्य न च अस्थिनः । न जातिः आत्मनः । जातिः व्यवहार-प्रकल्पिता ॥१०॥

IAST Transliteration

jātir iti ca | na carmaṇo na raktasya na māṃsasya na cāsthinaḥ | na jātir ātmano jātir vyavahāra-prakalpitā ||10||

Translation

‘ಜಾತಿ’ ಎಂಬುದರ ಕುರಿತು—ಅದು ಚರ್ಮದದಲ್ಲ, ರಕ್ತದದಲ್ಲ, ಮಾಂಸದದಲ್ಲ, ಎಲುಬಿನದಲ್ಲ. ಆತ್ಮನಿಗೆ ಜಾತಿಯಿಲ್ಲ; ಜಾತಿ ಲೋಕವ್ಯವಹಾರಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಕಲ್ಪಿಸಲಾದ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ ಮಾತ್ರ॥೧೦॥

Academic Translation

And as to ‘caste’ (jāti): it is not of the skin, not of the blood, not of the flesh, and not of the bone. The Self has no caste; caste is a construct fabricated for worldly dealings.

Verse Context

• Ātman as non-physical and beyond social identity (adhyāropa/apavāda; dehātma-buddhi negation)
• Mahavakya: Supports ‘tat tvam asi’/‘ahaṃ brahmāsmi’ by negating bodily-social identification and pointing to identity with the attributeless Self.
• Atharva
• Chandas: Prose (mixed; not strictly metrical)