Shloka 8
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
तिर्यग्योनिसहस्रेषु कदाचिद् देवतास्वपि । अभिमन्यत्यभीमानात् तथैव सुकृतान्यपि,कभी अपनेको सहस्ौरों तिर्यग्योनियोंका जीव समझता है और कभी देवत्वका अभिमान धारण करता है तथा इसी अभिमानके कारण उन-उन शरीरोंद्वारा किये हुए कर्मोंका फल भी भोगता है
tiryagyonisahasreṣu kadācid devatāsv api | abhimanyaty abhīmānāt tathaiva sukṛtāny api ||
Sinabi ni Vasiṣṭha: Dahil sa pagkalitong isinilang ng pagmamataas ng sarili, ang isang nilalang ay minsang kinikilala ang sarili bilang isa sa libu-libong anyo ng hayop, at minsan nama’y nagmamalaki na siya’y isang diyos. At dahil sa gayong ego rin, kailangan niyang danasin ang bunga ng mga gawa—pati na ng mabubuti—na ginawa sa pamamagitan ng mga katawang iyon.
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Identification with a particular status—animal or divine—arises from abhimāna (egoic self-conceit). That ego-driven identification binds the being to experience the fruits of actions performed in those embodied states, including the results of meritorious deeds.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing his listener in a reflective, philosophical mode typical of the Śānti Parva: he describes how the jīva, through pride and misidentification, alternates between low and high births and consequently undergoes the karmic outcomes associated with each embodiment.