Shloka 77

ब्राह्मणानुयात्रा—शौनकोपदेशः

Brāhmaṇas Follow into Exile and Śaunaka’s Instruction

Devanagari script

उत्तरो देवयानस्तु सद्धिराचरित: सदा । अष्ट ड्रेनैव मार्गेण विशुद्धात्मा समाचरेत्‌,अन्तिम चार धर्मोंको देवयानमार्गका स्वरूप बताया गया है। साधु पुरुष सदा उसी मार्गका आश्रय लेते हैं। आगे बताये जानेवाले आठ अंगोंसे युक्त मार्गद्वारा अपने अन्तःकरणको शुद्ध करके कर्तव्य-कर्मोंका कर्तृत्वके अभिमानसे रहित होकर पालन करे

Transliteration

uttaro devayānas tu sādubhir ācaritaḥ sadā | aṣṭāṅgenaiva mārgeṇa viśuddhātmā samācaret ||

Translation

商那迦说道：“更高的道路是 Devayāna（天神之道），为贤善之人恒常奉行。人当依具足八支之道净化内心，而后如法而行——履行应尽之业，却不怀‘我为作者’之我执与傲慢。”

Word by Word

uttaraḥhigher; superior

devayānaḥthe path leading to the gods (devayāna)

tubut; indeed

sadbhisby the good (people)

ācaritaḥpractised; followed

sadāalways

aṣṭāṅgenaby the eight-limbed (means)

evaindeed; only

mārgeṇaby the path; through the way

viśuddhātmāone whose inner self is purified

samācaretshould practise; should follow

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śaunaka

Devayāna

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse commends Devayāna as the superior spiritual course, urging one to purify the inner self through an eightfold discipline and to perform obligatory duties without egoistic ownership—i.e., without the pride ‘I am the doer.’

What is happening in the narrative?

Śaunaka, in a didactic context, describes the ‘Devayāna’ as the path consistently followed by the righteous and introduces an eight-limbed method by which a seeker purifies the mind and lives out dharma in a non-egoistic manner.