Shloka 19

Skanda-janma: Śivā/Svāhā, Agni, and the Manifestation of Guha

Mahābhārata 3.214

Devanagari script

तस्मिन्‌ यः संस्थितो हान्निर्नित्यं स्थाल्यामिवाहित: । आत्मानं तं विजानीहि नित्यं योगजितात्मकम्‌,जैसे बटलोईमें आग रखी गयी हो, उसी प्रकार पूर्वोक्त कला-समूहरूप शरीरमें प्रकाशस्वरूप आत्मा सदा विद्यमान रहता है। आप उसे जानिये। वह नित्य तथा योगशक्तिसे मन-बुद्धिको अपने अधीन रखनेवाला है

Transliteration

tasmin yaḥ saṁsthito hānnir nityaṁ sthālyām ivāhitaḥ | ātmānaṁ taṁ vijānīhi nityaṁ yogajitātmakam ||

Translation

जशी बटलोईत ठेवलेली आग नित्य तिथेच स्थिर राहते, तशीच पूर्वोक्त कलासमूहरूप देहात प्रकाशस्वरूप आत्मा सदैव विद्यमान असतो. त्या आत्म्याला जाणावे—तो नित्य आहे आणि योगबलाने मन-बुद्धीला वश ठेवणारा आहे.

Word by Word

तस्मिन्in that (body/that state)

यःwho

संस्थितःsituated/established

अग्निःfire

नित्यम्always

स्थाल्याम्in a cooking pot

इवas/like

आवाहितःplaced/installed

आत्मानम्the Self

तम्that (one)

विजानीहिknow/recognize

नित्यम्always/eternally

योगजितात्मकम्whose self is conquered/controlled by yoga (i.e., self-controlled through yoga)

Speaker

व्याध उवाच

Characters & Entities

vyādha (the hunter-teacher, speaker)

agni (fire)

sthālī (cooking pot)

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The Self is ever-present within the body, just as fire remains within a pot; one should recognize it as eternal and as something realized through yoga—mastery over the mind and intellect.

What is happening in the narrative?

The hunter (Vyādha), instructing on dharma and right understanding, uses a homely metaphor (fire in a cooking pot) to explain how the luminous Ātman abides within the bodily and mental apparatus and is to be known through disciplined inner control.