Shloka 20

Devanagari script

निःसड्भरात्मानमासाद्य षड्विंशकमजं विभुम्‌ | विभुस्त्यजति चाव्यक्तं यदा त्वेतद्‌ विबुद्धाते

Transliteration

niḥsaḍbharātmānam āsādya ṣaḍviṁśakam ajaṁ vibhum | vibhus tyajati cāvyaktaṁ yadā tv etad vibuddhyate ||

Translation

Vasiṣṭha said: “When one reaches that self which is free from the sixfold burden and realizes the unborn, all-pervading principle known as the twenty-sixth, then the sovereign Spirit, having truly understood this, relinquishes even the unmanifest (prakṛti).”

Word by Word

निःषड्भरात्मानम्the self that bears (supports) the six (i.e., the sixfold burden)

आसाद्यhaving reached/attained

षड्विंशकम्the twenty-six (principle/entity)

अजम्unborn

विभुम्all-pervading, mighty

विभुःthe Lord/the all-pervading one

त्यजतिabandons, gives up

चand

अव्यक्तम्the unmanifest (prakṛti)

यदाwhen

तुbut/indeed

एतत्this

विबुद्धातेawakens/realizes (fully understands)

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

व

वसिष्ठ (Vasiṣṭha)

अ

अव्यक्त (Avyakta, the Unmanifest/Prakṛti)

ष

षड्विंशक (the twenty-sixth principle/tattva)

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?

Liberation is described as the culmination of discriminative knowledge: realizing the unborn, all-pervading ‘twenty-sixth’ principle (beyond the manifest and even beyond the unmanifest prakṛti). With this awakening, attachment to the unmanifest source itself is relinquished, indicating transcendence of both gross and subtle nature.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vasiṣṭha is expounding a Sāṅkhya-like hierarchy of principles. He states that when the seeker attains the purified Self and understands the supreme principle, the Spirit no longer identifies with or depends upon the unmanifest (prakṛti), marking the transition from metaphysical analysis to final release.