Shloka 9

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

Devanagari script

शुक्लवासाश्न दुर्वासा: शायी नित्यमधस्तथा । मण्डूकशायी च तथा वीरासनगतस्तथा

Transliteration

śuklavāsāśn durvāsāḥ śayī nityam adhastathā | maṇḍūkaśāyī ca tathā vīrāsanagatas tathā ||

Translation

婆悉吒（Vasiṣṭha）说道：“他有时穿着新洗的白衣，有时却披着污秽、破裂、陈旧的衣衫。有时他卧于裸露的大地；有时又如蛙般蜷曲而眠，四肢收拢。时而他端坐于勇士之坐（vīrāsana），时而他栖身于苍穹之下。”

Word by Word

• शुक्लवासाः: wearing white garments
• शुक्लवासाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुक्ल-वासा
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• दुर्वासाः: wearing bad/tattered garments
• दुर्वासाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दुर्-वासा
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• शायी: lying down; one who sleeps
• शायी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शी (धातु) → शायिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• नित्यम्: always
• नित्यम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नित्य

• अधः: below; on the ground
• अधः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अधस्

• तथा: thus; likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• मण्डूकशायी: sleeping like a frog (crouched)
• मण्डूकशायी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मण्डूक-शायिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

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

• वीरासनगतः: seated in vīrāsana posture
• वीरासनगतः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वीरासन-गत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

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

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vasiṣṭha
• vīrāsana (heroic posture)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes non-attachment and inner steadiness: the disciplined person remains free from dependence on comfort, status, or outward appearance, accepting alternations of ease and hardship as part of self-mastery.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha is describing the conduct of an austere practitioner, listing contrasting modes of dress and rest—clean vs. dirty clothes, sleeping on the ground vs. curled up, sitting in vīrāsana vs. staying under the open sky—to illustrate a life of deliberate simplicity and restraint.