Shloka 39
ज्ञानाद् आत्यन्तिकः प्रोक्तो योगिनः परमात्मनि नित्यः सदैव जातानां यो विनाशो दिवानिशम्
jñānād ātyantikaḥ prokto yoginaḥ paramātmani nityaḥ sadaiva jātānāṃ yo vināśo divāniśam
Through true knowledge, the yogin is said to attain the ultimate state in the Supreme Self (Paramātman). For all who are born, there is ever a constant destruction, unceasing by day and by night.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Atyantika pralaya as liberation through jñāna; nitya (daily) destruction of embodied beings.
Teaching: Philosophical
Quality: revealing
Concept: Atyantika pralaya is the yogin’s final cessation in the Paramātman attained through true knowledge, contrasted with the ceaseless day-and-night decay that marks all born beings.
Vedantic Theme: Moksha
Application: Practice discrimination (viveka) and steady meditation to loosen identification with perishing states and orient the mind to the Supreme Self.
Vishishtadvaita: Liberation is ‘in’ the Paramātman—final rest depends on the Lord as the ground of the self, not on an isolated self-sufficiency.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman (philosophical)
Bhakti Type: Shanta (peaceful)
FAQs
This verse frames ātyantika as the definitive end-state reached through knowledge—abidance in the Paramātman—contrasted with the unbroken decay that marks all embodied birth.
Parāśara presents jñāna as the decisive means by which the yogin attains the supreme condition in the Paramātman, surpassing the constant cycle of arising and perishing experienced by the born.
The Paramātman is portrayed as the highest reality and final refuge of yogic realization—standing beyond the perpetual dissolution that governs samsaric existence.