Shloka 43

अव्यक्त–पुरुष–विवेकः (Discrimination of Avyakta/Prakṛti and Puruṣa) — Yājñavalkya’s Anvīkṣikī to Viśvāvasu

Devanagari script

इतना ही सांख्यदर्शन है। सांख्यके विद्वान्‌ तत्त्वोंकी संख्या (गणना) करते और प्रकृतिको ही जगत्‌का कारण बताते हैं। इसीलिये इस दर्शनका नाम सांख्यदर्शन है ।। तत्त्वानि च चतुर्विशत्‌ परिसंख्याय तत्त्वतः । सांख्या: सह प्रकृत्या तु निस्तत्त्वः: पडचविंशक:,सांख्यवेत्ता पुरुष प्रकृतिसहित चौबीस तत्त्वोंकी परिगणना करके परमपुरुषको जड तत्त्वोंसे भिन्न पचीसवाँ निश्चित करते हैं

Transliteration

tattvāni ca caturviśat pari-saṅkhyāya tattvataḥ | sāṅkhyāḥ saha prakṛtyā tu niṣtattvāḥ pañcaviṃśakaḥ || sāṅkhyavettāḥ puruṣaṃ prakṛti-sahitaṃ caturviṃśati-tattvānāṃ parigaṇanāt paraṃ puruṣaṃ jaḍa-tattvebhyo bhinnaṃ pañcaviṃśaṃ niścayanti ||

Translation

Vasiṣṭha said: “This is precisely what is meant by the Sāṅkhya teaching. The Sāṅkhyas are so called because they ‘enumerate’ the principles: they count the twenty-four constituents together with Prakṛti as the basis of the manifest world, and then determine a twenty-fifth—Puruṣa, the conscious principle—distinct from those inert categories. Thus, by discrimination between the insentient and the sentient, they point to the higher Self as separate from material nature.”

Word by Word

तत्त्वानिprinciples, categories (tattvas)

चand

चतुर्विंशत्twenty-four

परिसंख्यायhaving fully enumerated

तत्त्वतःin reality; truly; as they are

सांख्याःthe Sāṅkhyas (followers of Sāṅkhya)

सहtogether with

प्रकृत्याwith/along with Prakṛti (nature)

तुbut; indeed

निस्तत्त्वाःthose who are without true principle/understanding

पञ्चविंशकाःthe twenty-fivers; those positing twenty-five (principles)

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

व

वसिष्ठ (Vasiṣṭha)

स

सांख्य (Sāṅkhya)

प

प्रकृति (Prakṛti)

प

पुरुष (Puruṣa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sāṅkhya is defined by its method of enumerating reality: it counts the twenty‑four material principles with Prakṛti as the causal basis of the world, and then posits a distinct twenty‑fifth principle—Puruṣa, pure consciousness—separate from inert matter. The ethical thrust is discernment: freedom comes from knowing the Self as other than nature’s changing constituents.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Vasiṣṭha explains to his listener what ‘Sāṅkhya’ means and why it bears that name. He summarizes the doctrine’s key move—systematic enumeration of categories and the decisive separation of Puruṣa from Prakṛti—framing it as a guide to right understanding and inner peace.