Shloka 20

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

Devanagari script

कभी वह गोमूत्रका भोजन करनेवाला बनता है। कभी वह साग, फूल या सेवार खाता है तथा कभी जलका आचमन मात्र करके जीवन-निर्वाह करता है ।।

Transliteration

vartayan śīrṇaparṇaiś ca prakīrṇaphalabhojanaḥ | vividhāni ca kṛcchrāṇi sevate siddhikāṅkṣayā ||

Translation

婆悉吒说道：“有时他以牛尿为食；有时吃蔬菜、花或水藻；有时仅以一口净水作阿遮摩那（净饮）以维生。他以枯叶与散落的落果为粮，为求得悉地（灵性成就），便修行种种严酷的苦行。”

Word by Word

• वर्तयन्: living/maintaining (himself)
• वर्तयन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृत् (वर्तते/वर्तयति)
• Form: शतृ (वर्तमानकाले), पुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• शीर्णपर्णैः: with withered leaves
• शीर्णपर्णैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शीर्णपर्ण
• Form: नपुं, तृतीया, बहुवचन

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

• प्रकीर्णफलभोजनः: one whose food is scattered/fallen fruits
• प्रकीर्णफलभोजनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रकीर्णफलभोजन
• Form: पुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• विविधानि: various
• विविधानि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विविध
• Form: नपुं, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

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

• कृच्छ्राणि: hardships/austerities
• कृच्छ्राणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृच्छ्र
• Form: नपुं, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• सेवते: practises/undertakes
• Type: Verb
• Root: सेव्
• Form: लट्, आत्मनेपद, प्रथम, एकवचन

• सिद्धिकाङ्क्षया: with the desire for attainment/success
• सिद्धिकाङ्क्षया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सिद्धिकाङ्क्षा
• Form: स्त्री, तृतीया, एकवचन

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vasiṣṭha

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that spiritual progress (siddhi) is pursued through disciplined simplicity and endurance of hardship (kṛcchra), emphasizing mastery over appetite and comfort as an ethical-spiritual training rather than mere suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha describes an ascetic’s way of living: sustaining himself on minimal, naturally available food like withered leaves and fallen fruits, and deliberately practising varied austerities with the aim of attaining spiritual accomplishment.