अन्तःशरीरे निहितो गुहायां शुद्धः सोऽयमात्मा सर्वस्य मेदोमांसक्लेदावकीर्णे शरीरमध्येऽत्यन्तोपहते चित्रभित्तिप्रतीकाशे गान्धर्वनगरोपमे कदलीगर्भवन्निःसारे जलबुद्बुदवच्चञ्चले निःसृतमात्मानमचिन्त्यरूपं दिव्यं देवमसङ्गं शुद्धं तेजस्कायमरूपं सर्वेश्वरमचिन्त्यमशरीरं निहितं गुहायाममृतं विभ्राजमानमानन्दं तं पश्यन्ति विद्वांसस्तेन लये न पश्यन्ति
antaḥśarīre nihito guhāyāṃ śuddhaḥ so'yamātmā sarvasya medomāṃsakledāvakīrṇe śarīramadhye'tyantopahate citrabhittipratīkāśe gāndharvanagaropame kadalīgarbhavanniḥsāre jalabudbudavaccañcale niḥsṛtamātmānamacintyarūpaṃ divyaṃ devamasaṅgaṃ śuddhaṃ tejaskāyamarūpaṃ sarveśvaramacintyamaśarīraṃ nihitaṃ guhāyāmamṛtaṃ vibhrājamānamānandaṃ taṃ paśyanti vidvāṃsastena laye na paśyanti
Laid within the body, in the hidden place — pure, this self of all: in the middle of a body full of fat, flesh and lymph, utterly decayed, like a painted wall, like a city of gandharvas, pithless like a plantain stem, unsteady like a bubble on water. The self gone forth — of unthinkable form, the divine God, unattached, pure, of radiant body, formless, the Lord of all, unthinkable, bodiless, laid in the hidden place, immortal, shining, blissful — him the knowers see; therefore at the dissolution they do not see.
d1e8b3ed8774 · प्रकाशित 29 जुल॰ 2026, 4:12:03 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The eighth khaṇḍa begins with the same words as the seventh: “laid within the body, in the hidden place”. But there the speech was of him whose body is the universe; here — of him whose body is ours.
And this body is described without any mercy. It is “full of fat, flesh and lymph”; it is “utterly decayed”. Then come four comparisons, and each strikes in its own way.
Like a painted wall: pattern outside, clay inside. Like a city of gandharvas — so is called a mirage, a castle in the air, which is seen and is not. Pithless like a plantain stem: take it apart layer by layer and you will find no core. Unsteady like a bubble on water: it holds exactly until touched.
The four images are arranged in ascent. The first says the body is not outside what it is inside; the second — that it is not at all where it seems; the third — that it has no core; the fourth — that it will not last.
But one must hear what this is said for. Not in order to hate the body: this same book described with care and respect the lotus of the heart, the channels and the breaths, and the fifth khaṇḍa examined all fourteen members and found Him in each.
It is said for comparison. In the midst of this unsteady and decayed thing is the śuddha, “pure”, soul. Its definitions come in a row and are all positive: the divine God, unattached, light-bodied, the Lord of all, immortal, shining, blissful. Against the background of bubble and mirage is named what is neither bubble nor mirage.
And the last line is enigmatic: “him the knowers see; therefore at the dissolution they do not see”. It is interpreted thus: those who have seen Him in the body do not see perishing when the body dissolves — for they are not looking there. He who has found in the wall not the painting but the one living behind it will not be troubled when the wall crumbles.