Shloka 28
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
अज्ञानवश वह अपनेमें सत्त्व, रज, तम-इन त्रिविध गुणों और धर्म, अर्थ एवं कामका अभिमान कर लेता है ।। प्रकृत्या55त्मानमेवात्मा एवं प्रविभजत्युत । स्वधाकारवषट्कारौ स्वाहाकारनमस्क्रिया:
ajñānavaśaḥ sa ātmany eva sattva-rajas-tamaḥ—iti trividha-guṇānāṃ ca dharma-artha-kāmānāṃ cābhimānaṃ karoti || prakṛtyā ātmānam evātmā evaṃ pravibhajaty uta | svadhākāra-vaṣaṭkārau svāhākāra-namaskriyāḥ ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “Driven by ignorance, a person superimposes upon the Self the three guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas—and also lays claim to dharma, wealth (artha), and pleasure (kāma) as ‘mine.’ Thus, through the force of nature (prakṛti), the self divides and labels itself in many ways—identifying with ritual utterances like svadhā and vaṣaṭ, and with acts such as the exclamation svāhā and the performance of salutations—mistaking these conditioned roles and actions for the true Self.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that ignorance makes one falsely identify the Self with nature’s guṇas and with life-goals (dharma, artha, kāma), and even with ritual roles and formulae. This egoic ‘I’ and ‘mine’ is a superimposition; liberation requires discerning the Self as distinct from prakṛti and its conditioned activities.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing about the inner cause of bondage: the mind, under prakṛti and ajñāna, fragments identity into many labels—ethical, economic, sensual, and ritual—thereby obscuring the true Self. The passage functions as a philosophical admonition within Śānti Parva’s teachings on peace and liberation.