Shloka 8

अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa

Devanagari script

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

Transliteration

tiryagyonisahasreṣu kadācid devatāsv api | abhimanyaty abhīmānāt tathaiva sukṛtāny api ||

Translation

Vasiṣṭha nói: Do mê lầm sinh từ ngã mạn, có lúc một hữu thể tự nhận mình là loài sinh trong muôn ngàn nẻo thú, có lúc lại kiêu hãnh cho mình là chư thiên. Và cũng bởi cái ngã ấy, nó phải gánh chịu quả báo của những hành vi—kể cả những việc thiện—đã làm qua từng thân xác tương ứng.

Word by Word

तिर्यग्योनिसहस्रेषुamong thousands of animal-wombs (lower births)

कदाचित्sometimes

देवतासुamong the gods/divinities

अपिeven/also

अभिमन्यतिthinks/imagines (himself to be)

अभीमानात्from/through (his) pride

तथाthus/in that way

एवindeed/just

सुकृतानिgood deeds/merits

अपिalso/even

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vasiṣṭha

devatāḥ (gods)

tiryag-yoni (animal births/species)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.