Shloka 49
Adhyāya 302: Guṇa-vicāra, Gati-bheda, and the Imperishable State
Yājñavalkya–Janaka
एवमव्यक्तविषयं क्षरमाहुर्मनीषिण: । पज्चविंशतिमो यो<यं ज्ञानादेव प्रवर्तते,इस प्रकार ज्ञानी पुरुष प्रकृतिसे उत्पन्न हुए पदार्थोंको क्षर कहते हैं। उपर्युका चौबीस तत्त्वोंसे भिन्न जो पचीसवाँ तत्त्व--परमपुरुष परमात्मा बताया गया है, वही अक्षर है। उसकी प्राप्ति ज्ञानसे ही होती है
evam avyaktaviṣayaṁ kṣaram āhur manīṣiṇaḥ | pañcaviṁśatimo yo 'yaṁ jñānād eva pravartate ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “Thus, the wise declare as ‘perishable’ (kṣara) all that has the Unmanifest (prakṛti) as its field and basis. But that which is the twenty-fifth principle—distinct from the twenty-four evolutes—namely the Supreme Person, the highest Self, is ‘imperishable’ (akṣara). One reaches Him only through true knowledge.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
All phenomena grounded in the Unmanifest (prakṛti) are ‘kṣara’—perishable and changing. Beyond the twenty-four principles stands the twenty-fifth, the Supreme Self (Paramapuruṣa/Paramātman), called ‘akṣara’—imperishable. Realization of this imperishable principle is attained only through jñāna (discriminative knowledge).
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation and right understanding, Vasiṣṭha explains a Sāṅkhya-style distinction between the perishable field of prakṛti and its evolutes versus the imperishable supreme Self, emphasizing knowledge as the means to attain the highest reality.