Shloka 14
जनक–सुलभा संवादः
Janaka–Sulabhā Dialogue on Mokṣa and Non-attachment
तत्त्वसंश्रयणादेतत् तत्त्ववन्न च मानद | पज्चविंशति तत्त्वानि प्रवदन्ति मनीषिण:
tattvasaṁśrayaṇād etat tattvavan na ca mānada | pañcaviṁśati tattvāni pravadanti manīṣiṇaḥ ||
Vasiṣṭha sprach: „Weil diese Lehre auf den tattvas, den Prinzipien der Wirklichkeit, beruht, ist sie in der Wahrheit gegründet und nicht bloß eine ehrende Meinung. Darum, o Spender der Ehre, erklären die Weisen, es gebe fünfundzwanzig Grundprinzipien.“
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts that the doctrine being taught is not based on social prestige or mere convention but is anchored in tattva—objective principles of reality. On that basis, the sages articulate a structured account of existence in terms of twenty-five fundamental categories (a Sāṅkhya-style framework).
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Vasiṣṭha addresses his interlocutor respectfully and transitions into a philosophical exposition. He justifies the authority of the teaching by grounding it in ‘tattva’ and introduces the well-known enumeration of twenty-five principles as taught by the wise.