Shloka 22

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

Devanagari script

उपाश्रमानप्यपरान्‌ पाषण्डान्‌ विविधानपि । विविक्ताश्न शिलाच्छायास्तथा प्रस्रवणानि च

Transliteration

upāśramān apy aparān pāṣaṇḍān vividhān api | viviktāś ca śilācchāyās tathā prasravaṇāni ca ||

Translation

婆悉吒说道：“他也投向别样的隐修处，并依附种种异端之派。有时他独居于岩石的阴影下；有时他栖身于山泉之畔——不安地从一个依止处转向另一个。”

Word by Word

• उपाश्रमान्: hermitages, retreats
• उपाश्रमान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपाश्रम
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• अपि: also, even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• अपरान्: other, different
• अपरान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अपर
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• पाषण्डान्: heretical sects/ascetics (pāṣaṇḍas)
• पाषण्डान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाषण्ड
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• विविधान्: various
• विविधान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विविध
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• अपि: also, even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• विविक्ताश्न: eats in solitude
• Type: Verb
• Root: विविक्त + अश्न (अश्)
• Form: Present (Lat), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada, Sandhi form of 'विविक्ते अश्न(अत्ति/अश्नाति)'

• शिलाच्छायाः: shades of rocks (rock-shadows)
• शिलाच्छायाः: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिला-च्छाया
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• तथा: and likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• प्रस्रवणानि: springs, waterfalls
• प्रस्रवणानि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रस्रवण
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

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

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vasiṣṭha
• upāśrama (hermitages/retreats)
• pāṣaṇḍa (heterodox sects)
• śilācchāyā (shade of rocks)
• prasravaṇa (springs/waterfalls)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights spiritual instability and indiscriminate religious adopting—moving from one retreat or sect to another, seeking external settings (solitude, rocks, springs) without firm discernment. Ethically, it cautions that mere change of place or affiliation is not the same as inner steadiness in dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha is describing a person’s pattern of behavior: he frequents different hermitages and even heterodox groups, sometimes living alone under rocky shelters and sometimes near springs—portraying a wandering, shifting pursuit of religious life.