Shloka 49

मनु-उपदेशः — भूत-उत्पत्ति, इन्द्रिय-निवृत्ति, तथा पर-स्वभाव-विवेकः

Manu’s Instruction on Elemental Origination, Sense-Withdrawal, and Discrimination of the Supreme Nature

Devanagari script

स्वभावयुकत्या युक्तस्तु स नित्यं सृजते गुणान्‌ । ऊर्णनाभिर्य था सूत्र विज्ञेयास्तन्तुवद्‌ गुणा:

Transliteration

svabhāvayuktyā yuktaḥ tu sa nityaṃ sṛjate guṇān | ūrṇanābhiḥ yathā sūtraṃ vijñeyās tantuvad guṇāḥ ||

Translation

स्वभावयुक्त्या युक्तस्तु स नित्यं सृजते गुणान् । ऊर्णनाभिर्यथा सूत्रं विज्ञेयास्तन्तुवद्गुणाः ॥

Word by Word

• {'svabhāva': 'one’s own nature

• inherent constitution', 'yukti': 'capacity, power, apt means

• here: inherent potency/fitness', 'svabhāvayuktyā': 'by/through the potency grounded in its own nature', 'yuktaḥ': 'joined with

• established in', 'sa': 'that (Self/Ātman)', 'nityam': 'always

• continually', 'sṛjate': 'creates

• brings forth', 'guṇān': 'the qualities/strands of prakṛti (sattva, rajas, tamas)

• attributes', 'ūrṇanābhiḥ': 'spider', 'yathā': 'just as', 'sūtram': 'thread

• filament', 'vijñeyāḥ': 'to be understood/known', 'tantu-vat': 'like a thread

• thread-like', 'guṇāḥ': 'the guṇas

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Atman (Self)
• Gunas
• Spider
• Thread (sutra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The Self remains established in its own nature, while the guṇas (sattva, rajas, tamas) arise and operate like threads spun from a spider. Recognizing this helps one detach from fluctuating mental states and act with steadiness and discernment.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on liberation and right understanding, Bhishma teaches Yudhishthira using a vivid analogy: as a spider produces a web without ceasing to be itself, so the guṇas manifest from the underlying Self/nature, explaining change in experience without change in the essential Self.