Shloka 11

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

Devanagari script

भस्मप्रस्तरशायी च भूमिशय्या तलेषु च । वीरस्थानाम्बुपड़के च शयनं फलकेषु च

Transliteration

bhasmaprastaraśāyī ca bhūmiśayyā taleṣu ca | vīrasthānāmbupaḍake ca śayanaṃ phalakeṣu ca ||

Translation

婆悉吒说道：“他卧于灰烬与石块铺成的床榻；有时睡在裸地与坚硬之处。时而以勇士之坐而歇；时而卧于水与泥淖之间；时而又睡在木板与简陋的铺榻之上。”

Word by Word

• भस्मप्रस्तरशायी: one who lies on ashes and stones
• भस्मप्रस्तरशायी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भस्मप्रस्तरशायिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

• भूमिशय्या: one whose bed is the ground / ground-bed
• भूमिशय्या: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूमिशय्या
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• तलेषु: on surfaces/grounds
• तलेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तल
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Plural

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

• वीरस्थाने: in a hero’s place / on a warrior’s station (battlefield/post)
• वीरस्थाने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वीरस्थान
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• अम्बुपङ्के: in water-and-mud
• अम्बुपङ्के: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अम्बुपङ्क
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

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

• शयनम्: sleeping/lying down; bed
• शयनम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शयन
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• फलकेषु: on planks/boards
• फलकेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: फलक
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Plural

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

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vasiṣṭha
• ashes
• stone
• earth/ground
• water
• mud/mire
• wooden plank (phalaka)
• vīrāsana (heroic posture)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights detachment (vairāgya) through endurance of extremes: the disciplined person accepts any resting place—ashes, stone, earth, mud, or a plank—without craving comfort, indicating mastery over bodily preference and steadiness in dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha is describing the varied, often harsh conditions in which an austere practitioner lives and sleeps. The catalogue of places and postures functions as a moral portrait of renunciant discipline rather than a literal travelogue.