Shloka 10
उपेक्षत्वादनन्यत्वादभिमानाच्च केवलम् | मन्यन्ते यतय: सिद्धा अध्यात्मज्ञा गतज्वरा: । अनित्यं नित्यमव्यक्तं व्यक्तमेतद्धि शुश्रुम,अध्यात्मशास्त्रको जाननेवाले चिन्तारहित सिद्ध यति लोग पुरुषको केवल (प्रकृतिके संगसे रहित) मानते हैं; क्योंकि वह साक्षी और अद्वितीय है, उसे सुख-दुःखका अनुभव तो अभिमानके कारण होता है। वह वास्तवमें तो नित्य और अव्यक्त है, किंतु प्रकृतिके सम्बन्धसे अनित्य और व्यक्त प्रतीत होता है
upekṣatvād ananyatvād abhimānāc ca kevalam | manyante yatayaḥ siddhā adhyātmajñā gatajvarāḥ || anityaṁ nityam avyaktaṁ vyaktam etad dhi śuśruma ||
Yājñavalkya said: “Because the Self stands as a mere witness (remaining indifferent), because it is without a second, and because of the arising of ego-identification, accomplished ascetics—adepts in inner knowledge and free from feverish agitation—speak of the Person as ‘only’ (pure, untouched by Nature). In truth, we have heard in the teachings of the inner science that it is eternal and unmanifest; yet, through association with Nature it appears as impermanent and manifest.”
याज़्वल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Self (puruṣa) is essentially eternal and unmanifest, a non-dual witness. The sense of undergoing pleasure and pain arises from abhimāna (ego-identification) and from seeming association with Prakṛti, which makes the unmanifest appear as manifest and the eternal appear as impermanent.
In the Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Yājñavalkya explains how realized ascetics interpret the nature of the Self: they describe it as ‘pure/isolated’ due to its witnesshood and non-duality, while also accounting for worldly experience by pointing to ego and the Self’s apparent linkage with Nature.