Shloka 16
Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda
Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped
गुणा गुणेषु लीयन्ते तदैका प्रकृतिर्भवेत् क्षेत्रज्ञीडपि यदा तात तरक्षेत्रे सम्प्रलीयते
guṇā guṇeṣu līyante tadaikā prakṛtir bhavet | kṣetrajño 'pi yadā tāta para-kṣetre sampralīyate ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “When the manifest qualities dissolve back into their causal qualities, then all becomes a single Nature (prakṛti) alone. And when the knower of the field (kṣetrajña), dear one, is also dissolved into the Supreme Field, then even that individual no longer retains a separate existence.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches reabsorption at dissolution: the guṇas return to their causal state so that manifestation collapses into prakṛti, and even the individual knower (kṣetrajña) loses separateness when merged into the Supreme reality—pointing to the end of individuality in ultimate absorption.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing a listener addressed as “tāta,” explaining a metaphysical sequence of cosmic and individual dissolution: first the constituents of nature (guṇas) merge back, and ultimately the individual consciousness (kṣetrajña) is said to merge into the Supreme, leaving no distinct personal identity.