Shloka 29
अश्वशिरो-आख्यानम्
Aśvaśiras / Hayaśiras Narrative: Retrieval of the Vedas
जो सूक्ष्म, अज्ञेय, अव्यक्त, अचल और ध्रुव है, जो इन्द्रियों, विषयों और सम्पूर्ण भूतोंसे परे है, वही सब प्राणियोंका अन्तरात्मा है; अतः क्षेत्रज् नामसे कहा जाता है, वही त्रिगुणातीत तथा पुरुष कहलाता है। उसीसे त्रिगुणमय अव्यक्तकी उत्पत्ति हुई है। द्विजश्रेष्ठ! उसीको व्यक्तभावमें स्थित, अविनाशिनी अव्यक्त प्रकृति कहा गया है
yaḥ sūkṣmaḥ, ajñeyaḥ, avyaktaḥ, acalaḥ ca dhruvaḥ; yaḥ indriyebhyaḥ, viṣayebhyaḥ ca sarvebhyaḥ bhūtebhyaḥ paraḥ; sa eva sarva-prāṇinām antarātmā; ataḥ kṣetrajña-nāmnā ucyate; sa eva triguṇātītaḥ puruṣaḥ ca. tasmāt triguṇamayasya avyaktasya utpattiḥ. dvijaśreṣṭha! sa eva vyakta-bhāve sthitaḥ avināśinī avyakta-prakṛtiḥ iti ucyate.
Narada said: That which is subtle, unknowable, unmanifest, unmoving, and steadfast—beyond the senses, beyond their objects, and beyond all beings—alone is the inner Self of every creature. Therefore it is called the Knower of the Field (kṣetrajña); it is also the Puruṣa who transcends the three guṇas. From That arises the unmanifest constituted of the three guṇas. O best of the twice-born! That very same is spoken of as the imperishable, unmanifest Prakṛti, abiding in the condition of manifestation.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies the supreme inner Self as subtle and beyond sensory grasp, calling it kṣetrajña (knower of the field) and puruṣa (conscious principle) that transcends the three guṇas. It further links this transcendent principle to the emergence of the guṇa-constituted unmanifest (avyakta) and describes the same reality as imperishable Prakṛti when spoken of in relation to manifestation.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Nārada is explaining to a brāhmaṇa interlocutor the nature of the inner Self and its relation to Prakṛti and the guṇas, using Sāṅkhya-like categories to clarify how the unmanifest and manifest are understood in relation to the transcendent puruṣa.