Shloka 2
Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda
Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped
अविद्यामाहुरव्यक्तं सर्गप्रलयधर्मि वै । सर्गप्रलयनिर्मुक्तां विद्यां वै पडचविंशक:
Vasiṣṭha uvāca: avidyām āhur avyaktam sarga-pralaya-dharmi vai | sarga-pralaya-nirmuktāṁ vidyāṁ vai pañcaviṁśakam ||
Vasiṣṭha sprach: Die Weisen nennen das Unmanifestierte (prakṛti), das durch Schöpfung und Auflösung wirkt, „Unwissenheit“. Doch das, was von Schöpfung und Auflösung frei ist—das fünfundzwanzigste Prinzip, die höchste Person, das höchste Selbst jenseits der vierundzwanzig Tattvas—heißt „Wissen“.
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ignorance is identification with the unmanifest prakṛti that undergoes creation and dissolution; true knowledge is recognition of the twenty-fifth principle—the Puruṣa/Paramātman—transcending the changing cycle of sarga and pralaya.
In a didactic discourse within Śānti Parva, Vasiṣṭha instructs by defining ‘avidyā’ and ‘vidyā’ in Sāṅkhya terms, contrasting the changeful cosmic principle (avyakta/prakṛti) with the changeless Supreme Self beyond the twenty-four tattvas.