Shloka 19
Ṛṣabhadeva Instructs His Sons: Tapasya, Mahātmā-Sevā, and Cutting the Heart-Knot
इदं शरीरं मम दुर्विभाव्यं सत्त्वं हि मे हृदयं यत्र धर्म: । पृष्ठे कृतो मे यदधर्म आराद् अतो हि मामृषभं प्राहुरार्या: ॥ १९ ॥
idaṁ śarīraṁ mama durvibhāvyaṁ sattvaṁ hi me hṛdayaṁ yatra dharmaḥ pṛṣṭhe kṛto me yad adharma ārād ato hi mām ṛṣabhaṁ prāhur āryāḥ
എന്റെ ഈ ശരീരം മനുഷ്യരൂപംപോലെ തോന്നുന്നുവെങ്കിലും ഭൗതികമല്ല; ഇത് സച്ചിദാനന്ദ-വിഗ്രഹം, അചിന്ത്യം. പ്രകൃതിയുടെ നിർബന്ധത്തിൽ ഞാൻ ദേഹം സ്വീകരിക്കുന്നില്ല; എന്റെ മധുര ഇച്ഛയാൽ തന്നെ ധരിക്കുന്നു. എന്റെ ഹൃദയം ശുദ്ധ സത്ത്വമയമാണ്; അവിടെ ധർമ്മവും ഭക്തിയോഗത്തിന്റെ മാർഗവും വസിക്കുന്നു. അധർമ്മവും അഭക്തികർമങ്ങളും ഞാൻ ഹൃദയത്തിൽ നിന്ന് ദൂരെയാക്കി. അതുകൊണ്ട് ആര്യർ എന്നെ പരമേശ്വരൻ ഋഷഭദേവനായി പ്രാർത്ഥിക്കുന്നു।
In this verse the words idaṁ śarīraṁ mama durvibhāvyam are very significant. Generally we experience two energies — material energy and spiritual energy. We have some experience of the material energy (earth, water, air, fire, ether, mind, intelligence and ego) because in the material world everyone’s body is composed of these elements. Within the material body is the spirit soul, but we cannot see it with the material eyes. When we see a body full of spiritual energy, it is very difficult for us to understand how the spiritual energy can have a body. It is said that Lord Ṛṣabhadeva’s body is completely spiritual; therefore for a materialistic person, it is very difficult to understand. For a materialistic person, the completely spiritual body is inconceivable. We have to accept the version of the Vedas when our experimental perception cannot understand a subject. As stated in Brahma-saṁhitā: īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ. The Supreme Lord has a body with form, but that body is not composed of material elements. It is made of spiritual bliss, eternity and living force. By the inconceivable energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord can appear before us in His original spiritual body, but because we have no experience of the spiritual body, we are sometimes bewildered and see the form of the Lord as material. The Māyāvādī philosophers are completely unable to conceive of a spiritual body. They say that the spirit is always impersonal, and whenever they see something personal they take it for granted that it is material. In Bhagavad-gītā (9.11) it is said:
FAQs
This verse states that Ṛṣabhadeva keeps adharma “behind” and “far away,” indicating a life where irreligion is deliberately rejected and dharma is established in a pure heart.
He says the noble call Him Ṛṣabha because dharma resides in His pure heart and adharma is kept at a distance—making Him the ‘foremost’ among the exalted.
Cultivate sattva through truthful living, self-control, and devotion so that moral clarity arises from within—then consciously distance habits that lead to adharma.