Shloka 21

जनक–सुलभा संवादः

Janaka–Sulabhā Dialogue on Mokṣa and Non-attachment

Devanagari script

एष हाप्रतिबुद्धश्च बुध्यमानश्न॒ तेडनघ,निष्पाप नरेश! इस प्रकार मैंने तुमसे अप्रतिबुद्ध (क्षर), बुध्यमान (अक्षर जीवात्मा) और बुद्ध (ज्ञानस्वरूप परमात्मा)--इन तीनोंका श्रुतिके निर्देशके अनुसार यथार्थरूपसे प्रतिपादन किया है। शास्त्रीय दृष्टिके अनुसार जीवात्माके नानात्व और एकत्वको इसी तरह समझना चाहिये

Transliteration

eṣa hāpratibuddhaś ca budhyamānaś ca te ’nagha niṣpāpa nareśa | iti te mayā śruti-nirdeśānusāreṇa yathārthataḥ pratipāditāḥ—apratibuddhaḥ (kṣaraḥ), budhyamānaḥ (akṣara-jīvātmā), buddhaḥ (jñāna-svarūpaḥ paramātmā) iti trayaḥ | śāstrīya-dṛṣṭyā jīvātmano nānātvaṃ ca ekatvaṃ ca evam eva boddhavyam ||

Translation

Vasiṣṭha said: O sinless king, I have now explained to you—exactly as the Vedas indicate—the three: the unawakened (the perishable), the one in the process of awakening (the imperishable individual self), and the fully awakened (the Supreme Self whose nature is pure knowledge). From the standpoint of the scriptures, the soul’s plurality and its unity are to be understood in precisely this way.

Word by Word

• {'apratibuddha': 'unawakened

• not yet illumined by true knowledge', 'budhyamāna': 'awakening

• in the process of knowing', 'buddha': 'fully awakened

• perfectly knowing', 'kṣara': 'perishable

• mutable principle', 'akṣara': 'imperishable

• unchanging principle', 'jīvātman': 'individual self

• embodied soul', 'paramātman': 'Supreme Self

• highest reality', 'jñāna-svarūpa': 'whose essential nature is knowledge/consciousness', 'śruti': 'Vedic revelation

• the heard scripture', 'nirdeśa': 'instruction

• authoritative pointing-out', 'yathārthataḥ': 'as it truly is

• in accordance with reality', 'pratipādita': 'set forth

• established by explanation', 'nānātva': 'multiplicity

• plurality', 'ekatva': 'oneness

• unity', 'nareśa': 'lord of men

• king', 'anagha/niṣpāpa': 'blameless

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vasiṣṭha
• nareśa (the king, unnamed addressee)
• śruti (Vedic revelation)
• jīvātman
• paramātman

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse distinguishes three levels/principles—perishable (kṣara), imperishable individual self (akṣara-jīvātman), and the fully awakened Supreme Self (paramātman)—and says that scripture-based understanding reconciles the soul’s apparent plurality with its underlying unity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha is concluding an instruction to a king, summarizing that he has presented a Veda-aligned explanation of three ontological categories and advising that this framework is how one should interpret the scriptural teaching about the one-and-many nature of the self.