Shloka 17

Bhūta-guṇa-saṃkhyāna

Enumeration of the Properties of the Elements and Cognitive Faculties

Devanagari script

यथा वारिचर: पक्षी न लिप्यति जले चरन्‌ । विमुक्तात्मा तथा योगी गुणदोषैर्न लिप्यते

Transliteration

yathā vāricaraḥ pakṣī na lipyati jale caran | vimuktātmā tathā yogī guṇadoṣair na lipyate ||

Translation

Vyāsa giải thích: như loài chim sống trong nước, đi lại giữa nước mà không bị nước làm vấy bẩn hay trói buộc, cũng vậy, một yogin có tâm giải thoát có thể sống giữa đời mà vẫn không bị các phẩm tính và lỗi lầm của thế gian làm nhiễm. Ý nghĩa đạo đức là tự do nội tâm: có thể hành động và sống trong xã hội, nhưng không chấp thủ, không đồng nhất bản ngã, và không bị ô nhiễm bởi những gì mình gặp.

Word by Word

• यथा: just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• वारिचरः: water-dweller
• वारिचरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वारिचर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पक्षी: bird
• पक्षी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पक्षिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• लिप्यति: is smeared/tainted (clings)
• Type: Verb
• Root: लिप्
• Form: Present (Lat), Third, Singular, Atmanepada

• जले: in water
• जले: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: जल
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• चरन्: moving/roaming
• Type: Verb
• Root: चर्
• Form: Shatru (present active participle), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• विमुक्तात्मा: one whose self is liberated
• विमुक्तात्मा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विमुक्तात्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तथा: so/in the same way
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• योगी: yogi
• योगी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: योगिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• गुणदोषैः: by virtues and faults
• गुणदोषैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुणदोष
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• लिप्यते: is tainted/defiled
• Type: Verb
• Root: लिप्
• Form: Present (Lat), Third, Singular, Atmanepada

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• water-dwelling bird (vāricaraḥ pakṣī)
• water (jala)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A truly liberated yogin remains inwardly unattached: even while living and acting in the world, he is not morally or psychologically stained by its attractions (guṇa) or defects (doṣa), just as a bird in water is not smeared by water.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Vyāsa is teaching through a vivid simile, clarifying how a person established in freedom can continue worldly life without being bound by it.