Shloka 83

Utkramaṇa-sthāna and Ariṣṭa-lakṣaṇa: Yājñavalkya’s Instruction on Departure Pathways and Mortality Signs

Devanagari script

पश्यामि भगवंस्तस्मान्मोक्षधर्मो न विद्यते । भगवन्‌! इस प्रकार प्रकृति और पुरुष दोनों ही एक दूसरेके गुणोंकों आच्छादित करके एक दूसरेके गुणोंका आश्रयः लेते हुए सृष्टि करते हैं। इस तरह मैं इन दोनोंको सदा एक दूसरेसे सम्बद्ध देखता हूँ। अतः पुरुषके लिये मोक्षधर्मकी सिद्धि असम्भव जान पड़ती है

Transliteration

Janaka uvāca: paśyāmi bhagavaṁs tasmān mokṣadharmo na vidyate. bhagavan, evaṁ prakṛti-puruṣau ubhau anyonya-guṇān ācchādayitvā anyonya-guṇānām āśrayaṁ gṛhṇantau sṛṣṭiṁ kurutaḥ. evaṁ ca aham etau ubhau sadā anyonyena sambaddhau paśyāmi. ataḥ puruṣasya mokṣadharmasya siddhir asambhavā pratibhāti.

Translation

Janaka said: “Venerable sir, therefore I see that the discipline leading to liberation does not exist. For, O Blessed one, in this way Prakṛti and Puruṣa—each veiling the other’s qualities and taking refuge in the other’s qualities—bring forth creation. Thus I always perceive these two as inseparably connected with one another. Hence, it appears impossible for the Puruṣa to accomplish the path of liberation.”

Word by Word

• {'janaka uvāca': 'Janaka said', 'paśyāmi': 'I see, I perceive', 'bhagavan/bhagavaṁs': 'O venerable one

• Blessed Lord (honorific address to the teacher)', 'tasmāt': 'therefore, from that (reason)', 'mokṣa-dharma': 'the dharma/discipline whose aim is liberation', 'na vidyate': 'does not exist

• is not found', 'prakṛti': 'primordial nature

• material principle constituted of guṇas', 'puruṣa': 'conscious principle

• the witness-self', 'ubhau': 'both', 'anyonya': 'mutual

• of one another', 'guṇa': 'quality/strand (sattva, rajas, tamas)

• attribute', 'ācchādayitvā': 'having covered/veiled', 'āśrayaṁ gṛhṇantau': 'taking support/refuge

• depending upon', 'sṛṣṭiṁ kurutaḥ': 'they create

• they bring forth creation', 'sadā': 'always', 'sambaddha': 'connected, bound together, correlated', 'ataḥ': 'therefore', 'siddhi': 'attainment, accomplishment', 'asambhavā': 'impossible, not feasible', 'pratibhāti': 'appears (to me), seems'}

Speaker

जनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Janaka
• Prakṛti
• Puruṣa
• Bhagavān (addressed teacher)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Janaka raises a philosophical objection: if Prakṛti (nature) and Puruṣa (consciousness) are always mutually intertwined—each depending on and obscuring the other—then the very possibility of Puruṣa’s complete release (mokṣa) seems doubtful. The verse frames a problem that the teacher must resolve: how liberation is possible despite apparent inseparability.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Mokṣadharma section of Śānti Parva, King Janaka addresses a revered instructor and articulates his reasoning. Observing creation as arising from the mutual involvement of Prakṛti and Puruṣa, he concludes that a distinct ‘path to liberation’ for Puruṣa appears impossible, prompting further doctrinal clarification.