Shloka 3
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
मानुषत्वाद् दिवं याति दिवो मानुष्यमेव च । मानुष्यान्निर यस्थानमानन्त्यं प्रतिपद्यते
mānuṣatvād divaṃ yāti divo mānuṣyam eva ca | mānuṣyān nirayastānam ānantyaṃ pratipadyate ||
婆悉吒说道：“由人身可升天界，由天界复还人间；而自人世之中，有时又堕入无尽地狱之所。于是众生随其业行，在高下诸趣之间往来流转。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches karmic mobility: beings do not remain fixed in one realm. From human life one may rise to heaven through merit, return again to human birth when that merit is exhausted, and through wrongdoing may descend into hellish states—so ethical action (dharma) is decisive for one’s trajectory.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing his listener in the moral logic of saṃsāra, describing how a jīva moves among human, heavenly, and hellish destinations. The point is admonitory: human life is a pivotal station where choices can lead upward or downward.