Shloka 9
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
शुक्लवासाश्न दुर्वासा: शायी नित्यमधस्तथा । मण्डूकशायी च तथा वीरासनगतस्तथा
śuklavāsāśn durvāsāḥ śayī nityam adhastathā | maṇḍūkaśāyī ca tathā vīrāsanagatas tathā ||
Sinabi ni Vasiṣṭha: “Kung minsan ay nagsusuot siya ng puting kasuotang bagong laba; at kung minsan nama’y marumi, punit, at kupas na damit. Kung minsan ay nahihiga siya sa hubad na lupa; kung minsan ay natutulog na nakapulupot na parang palaka, nakatiklop ang mga kamay at paa. May mga pagkakataong nauupo siya sa tindig na vīrāsana (upong mandirigma), at may mga pagkakataong namumuhay siya sa ilalim ng bukás na langit.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes non-attachment and inner steadiness: the disciplined person remains free from dependence on comfort, status, or outward appearance, accepting alternations of ease and hardship as part of self-mastery.
Vasiṣṭha is describing the conduct of an austere practitioner, listing contrasting modes of dress and rest—clean vs. dirty clothes, sleeping on the ground vs. curled up, sitting in vīrāsana vs. staying under the open sky—to illustrate a life of deliberate simplicity and restraint.