Shloka 31
Vānaprastha-vṛtti and the Transition toward the Fourth Āśrama (वानप्रस्थवृत्तिः चतुर्थाश्रमोपक्रमश्च)
विपरीतमतो यत् तु तदव्यक्तमुदाह्मतम् । द्वावात्मानौ च वेदेषु सिद्धान्तेष्वप्युदाहृतो
viparītamato yat tu tad avyaktam udāhṛtam | dvāv ātmānau ca vedeṣu siddhānteṣv apy udāhṛtau ||
Vyāsa sprach: „Was dem Manifestierten entgegengesetzt ist—frei von den vier Wandlungen wie Geburt und den übrigen—heißt das Unmanifestierte. In den Veden und in den Lehrschriften, die die Doktrin begründen, wird dieses Unmanifestierte als zweifach gelehrt: das individuelle Selbst und das höchste Selbst.“
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines the 'Unmanifest' (avyakta) as that which is opposite to the manifest world of change—beyond birth and other transformations—and states that scripture and philosophical doctrine describe it in two aspects: the individual self (jīvātman) and the Supreme Self (paramātman).
In the Mokṣa-dharma discussions of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa is instructing the listener in metaphysical distinctions, clarifying how the Vedas and established teachings classify the subtle, unmanifest reality and how it relates to selfhood.