Shloka 2

Devanagari script

तिर्यग्योनिसहस्रेषु कदाचिद्‌ देवतास्वपि । उपपसद्यति संयोगाद्‌ गुणै: सह गुणक्षयात्‌,वह गुणोंके साथ सम्बन्ध होनेसे उन्हीं गुणोंकी सामर्थ्यसे कभी सहस्रों बार तिर्यग्योनियोंमें और कभी देवताओं में जन्म लेता है

Transliteration

tiryagyoni-sahasreṣu kadācid devatāsv api | upapadyati saṃyogād guṇaiḥ saha guṇa-kṣayāt ||

Translation

ഗുണങ്ങളോടുള്ള സംയോഗം കൊണ്ടും, അതേ ഗുണങ്ങളുടെ ക്ഷയ-പരിവർത്തനമനുസരിച്ചും, അവൻ ചിലപ്പോൾ ആയിരം പ്രാവശ്യം തിര്യഗ്യോനികളിൽ, ചിലപ്പോൾ ദേവതകളിലേക്കും ജന്മം പ്രാപിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

तिर्यग्योनिसहस्रेषुin thousands of animal-wombs (lower births)

कदाचित्sometimes

देवतासुamong the deities

अपिalso/even

उपपद्यतिis born/comes to be

संयोगात्from (the cause of) conjunction/association

गुणैःwith/by the qualities (gunas)

सहtogether with

गुणक्षयात्from the diminution/waning of the qualities

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vasiṣṭha

tiryagyoni (animal births)

devatā (gods)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Birth in lower or higher realms is driven by association with the guṇas (sattva, rajas, tamas) and their changing strength; as qualities arise, mix, and diminish, the jīva cycles through many forms. Ethical implication: cultivate sattva and detach from guṇa-driven impulses to reduce bondage to saṃsāra.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha is instructing about the mechanism of transmigration: through contact with guṇas and the exhaustion/shift of those guṇas, a being repeatedly attains births—sometimes among animals, sometimes among gods—illustrating the instability of worldly status and the causal role of qualities.