Shloka 24
कर्मनाशाभावः, गर्भे जीवप्रवेशः, आचारधर्मोपदेशः
Karma’s Non-Extinction, Jīva’s Entry into the Embryo, and Instruction on Conduct-Dharma
शरीरग्रहणं चास्य केन पूर्व प्रकल्पितम् । इत्येवं संशयो लोके तच्च वक्ष्याम्पत: परम्,आत्माके शरीर धारण करनेकी प्रथा सबसे पहले किसने चलायी है, इस प्रकारका संदेह प्रायः लोगोंके मनमें उठा करता है, अतः उसीका उत्तर दे रहा हूँ
śarīra-grahaṇaṁ cāsya kena pūrvaṁ prakalpitam | ity evaṁ saṁśayo loke tac ca vakṣyāmi tataḥ param ||
“اور آتما کے جسم اختیار کرنے کی یہ رسم سب سے پہلے کس نے قائم کی؟ ایسا شک دنیا میں عموماً پیدا ہوتا ہے۔ لہٰذا اب میں اس کا جواب ترتیب کے ساتھ بیان کرتا ہوں۔”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a philosophical inquiry: embodiment is not treated as a random accident but as something with an intelligible origin or ordinance. The speaker signals a structured explanation, encouraging disciplined questioning and reasoned teaching about the Self’s relation to the body.
A Brahmin speaker responds to a commonly held doubt—who first established the ‘practice’ of the Self assuming a body—and announces that he will explain the matter step by step in the subsequent discourse.