Shloka 34
Utkramaṇa-sthāna and Ariṣṭa-lakṣaṇa: Yājñavalkya’s Instruction on Departure Pathways and Mortality Signs
यदा प्रबुद्धा हव्यक्तमवस्थाजन्मभीरव: । बुध्यमान प्रबुध्यन्ति गमयन्ति समं तदा,जिस समय बाल्य, यौवन और वृद्धावस्था अथवा जन्म-मरणसे भयभीत हुए विवेकी पुरुष चेतन-स्वरूप अव्यक्त परमात्माके तत्त्वको ठीक-ठीक समझ लेते हैं, उस समय उन्हें परब्रह्म परमात्माके स्वरूपकी प्राप्ति हो जाती है
yadā prabuddhā hy avyaktam avasthā-janma-bhīravaḥ | budhyamānāḥ prabudhyante gamayanti samaṃ tadā ||
When discerning men—alarmed by the changing stages of life and by birth and death—truly awaken to the reality of the unmanifest, conscious Absolute, then their understanding becomes fully illumined, and they are led into the state of perfect equanimity, attaining the Supreme Brahman as it is.
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Fear arising from life’s changing conditions (childhood, youth, old age) and from birth and death is resolved through right knowledge: when one awakens to the unmanifest, conscious Absolute, one attains equanimity and realization of the Supreme.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing about liberation: he describes the inner turning point where a wise person, shaken by saṃsāra’s instability, gains clear insight into the unmanifest reality and thereby reaches the state of sameness (sama) and the Supreme.