Shloka 28
Utkramaṇa-sthāna and Ariṣṭa-lakṣaṇa: Yājñavalkya’s Instruction on Departure Pathways and Mortality Signs
अनादिनिधनो<नन्त:ः सर्वदर्शी निरामय: । केवल त्वभिमानित्वाद् गुणेषु गुण उच्यते
anādinidhano 'nantaḥ sarvadarśī nirāmayaḥ | kevala-tv-abhimānitvād guṇeṣu guṇa ucyate ||
Vasiṣṭha said: He is without beginning and without end, infinite, all-seeing, and free from affliction. Yet, solely because of the ego’s self-identification, He is spoken of as a ‘quality’ among the qualities—appearing conditioned only through the conceit that claims ownership and agency.
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Self (or ultimate reality) is intrinsically beginningless, endless, infinite, all-seeing, and untouched by suffering; it is not truly a product of the guṇas. It is called a ‘guṇa’ only from the standpoint of egoic identification, which superimposes limitation and agency onto what is actually unconditioned.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Vasiṣṭha is explaining a metaphysical point: how the unconditioned Self appears entangled in prakṛti’s guṇas. He attributes this apparent bondage not to the Self itself but to abhimāna—misidentification that makes the transcendent seem like one factor among conditioned qualities.