Shloka 17
Brahmopadeśa on Saṃnyāsa, Tapas, and Jñāna (ब्रह्मोपदेशः—संन्यासतपोज्ञानविमर्शः)
इस वृक्षपर रहनेवाले (मन-बुद्धिरूप) दो पक्षी हैं, जो नित्य क्रियाशील होनेपर भी अचेतन हैं। इन दोनोंसे श्रेष्ठ अन्य (आत्मा) है, वह ज्ञानसम्पन्न कहा जाता है ।।
vayudeva uvāca | asmin vṛkṣe paryavasthitau (mano-buddhi-rūpau) dvau pakṣiṇau staḥ, yau nityaṃ kriyāśīlau sanāv api acetanaḥ | etābhyāṃ śreṣṭho 'nyaḥ (ātmā) sa jñānasampanna iti kathyate || acetanaḥ sattva-saṅkhyā-vimuktaḥ; sattvāt paraṃ cetayaty antarātmā | sa kṣetrajñaḥ sarva-saṅkhyāta-buddhir guṇātīto mucyate sarva-pāpaiḥ ||
风神（Vāyu）说道：“在这棵树上栖居着两只鸟——象征心与慧（意与智）——虽恒常活动，却自身无觉无知。高于此二者者，另有一位：自我（Ātman），被称为具足真实智慧者。原质（Prakṛti），那超越一切计数的本初‘萨埵’，本为无觉；与之有别的个我，则由内在主宰（Antaryāmin）、至上自我所唤醒并照明。当知田者（kṣetra-jña）通达一切存在之理，便超越三德（guṇa），从一切罪垢中解脱。”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Mind and intellect are active instruments but not self-luminous consciousness. True awakening comes from the indwelling Supreme Self (antarātmā/Paramātman). When the knower of the field discerns the principles of prakṛti and the Self, he transcends the guṇas and becomes free from moral and karmic impurity.
Vāyudeva delivers a doctrinal instruction using the metaphor of a tree with two birds. He identifies the ‘birds’ with inner faculties (mind and intellect) and points beyond them to the Self and the inner Ruler, framing liberation as the result of discriminative knowledge and guṇa-transcendence.