Shloka 6
Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda
Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped
अहड्कारस्तु भूतानां पञ्चानां नात्र संशय: । अहड्कारस्य च तथा बुद्धिर्विद्या नरेश्वर,नरेश्वर! उन सूक्ष्म पञ्चभूतोंकी विद्या अहंकार है, इसमें कोई संशय नहीं है तथा अहंकारकी विद्या बुद्धि मानी गयी है
ahaṅkāras tu bhūtānāṃ pañcānāṃ nātra saṃśayaḥ | ahaṅkārasya ca tathā buddhir vidyā nareśvara ||
Vasiṣṭha said: “Of the five subtle elements, their governing ‘knowledge’ is indeed ahaṅkāra, the sense of ‘I’—there is no doubt of this. And likewise, O king, the ‘knowledge’ that pertains to ahaṅkāra is understood to be buddhi, discriminative intellect.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links levels of inner cognition: the five (subtle) elements are associated with the ego-principle (ahaṅkāra) as their governing ‘knowledge,’ and the ego-principle itself is governed/known through buddhi (discriminative intellect). It points to a hierarchy of principles used for self-analysis and liberation-oriented discernment.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Vasiṣṭha addresses a king and expounds a philosophical account of inner faculties and elemental principles, clarifying how ahaṅkāra and buddhi function as successive layers in understanding experience and the self.