Adhyāya 302: Guṇa-vicāra, Gati-bheda, and the Imperishable State
Yājñavalkya–Janaka
जले भुवि तथा55काशे नान्यत्रेति विनिश्चय: । स्थान देहवतामासीदित्येवमनुशुश्रुम,पृथ्वी, जल और आकाशमें ही देहधारियोंका निवास है, और कहीं नहीं; यह विद्वानोंका निश्चय है। ऐसा मैंने सुन रक्खा है
jale bhuvi tathākāśe nānyatreti viniścayaḥ | sthānaṃ dehavatām āsīd ity evam anuśuśruma |
婆悉吒说道:“学者们已有定论:具身众生唯居于水中、地上与空中——除此别无他处。我如是听闻,并依传统守持至今。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
The verse states a traditional, authoritative conclusion: embodied life is situated within the three domains—water, earth, and sky/space—and not beyond them. It emphasizes a bounded cosmological framework and appeals to received tradition as a source of knowledge.
Vasiṣṭha is speaking in an instructive mode, citing what has been handed down (“thus have I heard”) to establish a doctrinal point about where embodied beings reside, grounding his teaching in learned consensus and tradition.