Shloka 9
Ṛṣabhadeva Instructs His Sons: Tapasya, Mahātmā-Sevā, and Cutting the Heart-Knot
यदा मनोहृदयग्रन्थिरस्य कर्मानुबद्धो दृढ आश्लथेत । तदा जन: सम्परिवर्ततेऽस्माद् मुक्त: परं यात्यतिहाय हेतुम् ॥ ९ ॥
yadā mano-hṛdaya-granthir asya karmānubaddho dṛḍha āślatheta tadā janaḥ samparivartate ’smād muktaḥ paraṁ yāty atihāya hetum
यदा कर्मानुबद्धस्य जनस्य दृढो मनोहृदयग्रन्थिराश्लथेत, तदा स गृहदारसुताद्यनुरागात् निवर्त्य ‘अहं ममेति’ हेतुं त्यक्त्वा मुक्तः परं लोकं याति॥
When, by associating with sādhus and engaging in devotional service, one is gradually freed from the material conception due to knowledge, practice and detachment, the knot of attachment in the heart is slackened. Thus one can get freed from conditional life and become eligible to return home, back to Godhead.
FAQs
It says bondage persists as a firm knot in the mind and heart created by karma, and liberation begins when that knot loosens, allowing one to turn away from material life and go to the Supreme.
As a king and avatāra-like teacher, Ṛṣabhadeva instructed his sons on the inner cause of bondage—karma-bound conditioning—and the pathway to freedom through detachment and spiritual transformation.
Reduce karmic entanglement by living consciously—cultivating devotion, restraint, truthful living, and detachment from compulsive desire—so the mind-heart knot relaxes and spiritual priorities become natural.