Shloka 18

Vānaprastha-vṛtti and the Transition toward the Fourth Āśrama (वानप्रस्थवृत्तिः चतुर्थाश्रमोपक्रमश्च)

Devanagari script

तथा देहाद्‌ विमुक्तस्य पूर्व रूपं भवत्युत । अथ धूमस्य विरमे द्वितीयं रूपदर्शनम्‌,इस प्रकार देहाभिमानसे मुक्त हुए योगीके अनुभवका यह पहला रूप है। जब कुहरा निवृत्त हो जाता है, तब दूसरे रूपका दर्शन होता है

Transliteration

tathā dehād vimuktasya pūrva-rūpaṃ bhavaty uta | atha dhūmasya virame dvitīyaṃ rūpa-darśanam ||

Translation

ویاس نے کہا—جو یوگی جسم کی شناخت (دہہ-अभिमान) سے آزاد ہو چکا ہو، اس کے لیے یہ تجربے کی پہلی صورت ہے۔ پھر جب ‘دھواں’—باطن کی الجھن کی دھند—چھٹ جاتی ہے تو دوسری صورتِ دید حاصل ہوتی ہے۔

Word by Word

तथाthus, in that manner

देहात्from the body

विमुक्तस्यof the liberated (one), freed

पूर्वम्first, earlier

रूपम्form, appearance

भवतिbecomes, is

उतand, also (emphatic)

अथthen, thereafter

धूमस्यof smoke/mist

विरमेupon cessation, at the stopping

द्वितीयम्second

रूपदर्शनम्vision of (that) form

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

yogin

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Liberation begins with freedom from deha-abhimāna (identifying the Self with the body). As inner obscurations—likened to smoke—fade, clearer and higher realization arises in successive stages.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa is describing a graded contemplative experience: first, the yogin’s initial realization after loosening bodily identification; next, a deeper vision that appears when the remaining mental ‘haze’ (dhūma) ceases.