Shloka 42
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
मनुष्यत्वाच्च निरयं प्यायेणोपगच्छति । य एवं वेत्ति नित्यं वै निरात्मा55त्मगुणैवत:
manuṣyatvācca nirayaṃ pyāyeṇopagacchati | ya evaṃ vetti nityaṃ vai nirātmātmaguṇair iva ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “Even by virtue of being human, one can fall into hell through moral decline and indulgence. But the one who constantly understands this truth—seeing the selfless (non-egoic) reality as though it were marked by the qualities of the self—remains discerning and does not get carried away by those qualities.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Human life easily slips into suffering when one allows faults to grow—through indulgence, heedlessness, and ego-driven conduct. Continuous discernment about the nature of self and qualities (guṇas) prevents one from being overpowered by them and from accruing actions that lead to ‘hellish’ consequences.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Vasiṣṭha speaks as a moral and spiritual teacher, warning about the dangers inherent in human weakness and emphasizing steady knowledge/discrimination as the safeguard against downfall.