Shloka 34

Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda

Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped

Devanagari script

ततो<स्मि बहुरूपासु स्थितो मूर्तिष्वमूर्तिमान्‌ । अमूर्तश्चापि मूर्तात्मा ममत्वेन प्रधर्षित:,“यद्यपि मैं सर्वथा अमूर्त हूँ अर्थात्‌ किसी आकार-वाला नहीं हूँ तो भी मैं प्रकृतिकी अनेक रूपवाली मूर्तियोंमें स्थित हुआ देहरहित होकर भी ममतासे परास्त होनेके कारण देहधारी बना रहा

Transliteration

tato 'smi bahurūpāsu sthito mūrtiṣv amūrtimān | amūrtaś cāpi mūrtātmā mamatvena pradharṣitaḥ ||

Translation

Vasiṣṭha disse: “Depois disso, embora eu seja em verdade sem forma, vim a habitar nas muitas formas encarnadas de Prakṛti. E, embora informe, assumi um eu como se fosse corpóreo, dominado pelo sentimento de ‘meu’ (apego).”

Word by Word

ततःthen/from that

अस्मिI am

बहुरूपासुin many-formed (ones)

स्थितःsituated/standing

मूर्तिषुin forms/bodies

अमूर्तिमान्formless (possessing formlessness)

अमूर्तःformless

चand

अपिeven/also

मूर्तात्माone whose self is embodied (embodied-souled)

ममत्वेनby possessiveness/ego of 'mine'

प्रधर्षितःoverpowered/assailed

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vasiṣṭha

Prakṛti (implied by ‘many-formed embodiments’)

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?

Even what is essentially formless and unattached can appear ‘embodied’ when consciousness identifies with forms through mamatā (the sense of possession and ‘mine’). The ethical thrust is to weaken possessiveness and identification, which are presented as the forces that bind the self to embodied limitation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha is describing an inner, philosophical account of how the self—though intrinsically formless—comes to be situated among manifold forms and experiences itself as embodied due to the overpowering influence of attachment (mamatva).