Shloka 12

Saṃhāra-krama (The Sequence of Cosmic Dissolution) — Yājñavalkya’s Discourse

Devanagari script

यथा चानिमिषा: स्थूला जाल छित्त्वा पुनर्जलम्‌ । प्राप्रुवन्ति तथा योगास्तत्‌ पं वीतकल्मषा:

Transliteration

yathā cānimiṣāḥ sthūlā jālaṃ chittvā punar jalam | prāpnuvanti tathā yogās tat-padaṃ vīta-kalmaṣāḥ ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“正如那些巨大的、不瞬目的鱼，割断罗网而复归于水；同样，瑜伽行者在洗尽罪垢之后，冲破束缚之绳，得至于至高之境。”

Word by Word

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

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अनिमिषाः: unblinking (fish)
• अनिमिषाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनिमिष
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• स्थूलाः: large, stout
• स्थूलाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्थूल
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• जालम्: net
• जालम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: जाल
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• छित्त्वा: having cut
• Type: Verb
• Root: छिद्
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), active

• पुनः: again
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः

• जलम्: water
• जलम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: जल
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• प्राप्नुवन्ति: they reach/attain
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-आप्
• Form: present (lat), third, plural, active

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

• योगाः: yogins / practitioners of yoga
• योगाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: योग
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• तत्: that (state/goal)
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• पदम्: abode/state
• पदम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पद
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• वीतकल्मषाः: freed from sin/impurity
• वीतकल्मषाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वीत-कल्मष
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• fish (animiṣāḥ)
• net (jāla)
• water (jala)
• yogins (yogāḥ/yoginaḥ)
• supreme state/abode (tat-pada)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Through disciplined yoga and inner purification, one can cut through binding entanglements (like a net) and attain the highest state—freedom from sin and union with the supreme reality.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma instructs by analogy: as strong fish escape a net and return to their natural element (water), so yogins, freed from moral and mental impurities, transcend worldly bonds and reach the supreme abode.