Shloka 11
Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda
Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped
राजन! मैंने तुम्हारे समक्ष यथार्थरूपसे विद्यासहित अविद्याका विशेषरूपसे वर्णन किया है। अब जो क्षर और अक्षर तत्त्व कहे गये हैं; उनके विषयमें मुझसे सुनो ।।
rājan! mayā tava samakṣaṃ yathārtharūpeṇa vidyāsahitā avidyā viśeṣarūpeṇa varṇitā. idānīṃ ye kṣara-akṣara-tattve uktau, tayoḥ viṣaye mattaḥ śṛṇu. ubhāv evākṣarāv uktāv ubhāv etāv anākṣarau. kāraṇaṃ tu pravakṣyāmi yāthātathyaṃ tu jñānataḥ.
Vasiṣṭha said: “O King, I have already set forth before you, in their true form, both knowledge and ignorance, distinguishing their specific features. Now listen from me about the principles spoken of as the perishable (kṣara) and the imperishable (akṣara). In the Sāṅkhya view, both Prakṛti and Puruṣa are called ‘imperishable,’ and yet both are also spoken of as ‘perishable.’ I shall explain, according to my understanding, the real reason for this—faithfully and as it truly is.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vasiṣṭha prepares to resolve an apparent contradiction: Sāṅkhya calls both Prakṛti and Puruṣa ‘akṣara’ (imperishable), yet they are also described as ‘kṣara’ (perishable). The teaching points to careful definition—what is ‘imperishable’ in one sense (as enduring principles) may still be ‘perishable’ in another (as involved with change, manifestation, or conditioned description).
In the Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Vasiṣṭha addresses a king and continues a philosophical discourse. Having already distinguished knowledge and ignorance, he now turns to the kṣara/akṣara doctrine and promises to explain, from his understanding, why Sāṅkhya language can apply both labels to Prakṛti and Puruṣa.