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 said: “That which is contrary to the manifest—free from the four transformations such as birth and the rest—is called the Unmanifest. In the Vedas and in the treatises that establish doctrine, this Unmanifest is taught as twofold: the individual self and the Supreme Self.”
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.