Shloka 21

जनक–सुलभा संवादः

Janaka–Sulabhā Dialogue on Mokṣa and Non-attachment

Devanagari script

एष हाप्रतिबुद्धश्च बुध्यमानश्न॒ तेडनघ

Transliteration

eṣa hāpratibuddhaś ca budhyamānaś ca te ’nagha niṣpāpa nareśa | iti te mayā śruti-nirdeśānusāreṇa yathārthataḥ pratipāditāḥ—apratibuddhaḥ (kṣaraḥ), budhyamānaḥ (akṣara-jīvātmā), buddhaḥ (jñāna-svarūpaḥ paramātmā) iti trayaḥ | śāstrīya-dṛṣṭyā jīvātmano nānātvaṃ ca ekatvaṃ ca evam eva boddhavyam ||

Translation

বসিষ্ঠ বললেন—হে নিষ্পাপ নৃপতি! শ্রুতির নির্দেশ অনুসারে আমি তোমাকে স্পষ্ট করে এই তিনটি বললাম—অপ্রতিবুদ্ধ (ক্ষর), বুধ্যমাণ (অক্ষর জীবাত্মা) এবং বুদ্ধ (জ্ঞানস্বভাব পরমাত্মা)। শাস্ত্রদৃষ্টিতে জীবের নানাত্ব ও একত্ব এভাবেই নির্ণয় করা উচিত।

Word by Word

• {'apratibuddha': 'unawakened

• not yet illumined by true knowledge', 'budhyamāna': 'awakening

• in the process of knowing', 'buddha': 'fully awakened

• perfectly knowing', 'kṣara': 'perishable

• mutable principle', 'akṣara': 'imperishable

• unchanging principle', 'jīvātman': 'individual self

• embodied soul', 'paramātman': 'Supreme Self

• highest reality', 'jñāna-svarūpa': 'whose essential nature is knowledge/consciousness', 'śruti': 'Vedic revelation

• the heard scripture', 'nirdeśa': 'instruction

• authoritative pointing-out', 'yathārthataḥ': 'as it truly is

• in accordance with reality', 'pratipādita': 'set forth

• established by explanation', 'nānātva': 'multiplicity

• plurality', 'ekatva': 'oneness

• unity', 'nareśa': 'lord of men

• king', 'anagha/niṣpāpa': 'blameless

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vasiṣṭha
• nareśa (the king, unnamed addressee)
• śruti (Vedic revelation)
• jīvātman
• paramātman

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse distinguishes three levels/principles—perishable (kṣara), imperishable individual self (akṣara-jīvātman), and the fully awakened Supreme Self (paramātman)—and says that scripture-based understanding reconciles the soul’s apparent plurality with its underlying unity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha is concluding an instruction to a king, summarizing that he has presented a Veda-aligned explanation of three ontological categories and advising that this framework is how one should interpret the scriptural teaching about the one-and-many nature of the self.