Shloka 31
अध्यात्म-तत्त्व-निर्णयः
Adhyātma Taxonomy: Elements, Faculties, and Guṇas
अक्षरं च क्षरं चैव द्वैधीभावो5यमात्मन: । क्षर: सर्वेषु भूतेषु दिव्यं तमृतमक्षरम्
akṣaraṃ ca kṣaraṃ caiva dvaidhībhāvo ’yam ātmanaḥ | kṣaraḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu divyaṃ tad amṛtam akṣaram ||
Vyāsa explica que del Sí mismo se habla de modo doble: como perecedero y como imperecedero. En todos los seres aparece como lo perecedero—sujeto a cambio y disolución—pero la realidad divina e inmortal en su interior es lo imperecedero, la verdad perdurable que no se corrompe. La enseñanza guía a discernir lo transitorio de la existencia encarnada de aquel principio eterno que sostiene la firmeza ética y la libertad interior.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches discernment between two aspects attributed to the Self: the perishable manifestation seen in embodied existence and the imperishable, deathless reality that is divine and unchanging. Ethical steadiness arises from anchoring one’s identity in the imperishable rather than the transient.
In the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa is presenting a philosophical clarification to guide the listener toward peace: he frames the Self in a twofold description—mutable in its worldly appearance across beings, yet truly immortal and imperishable in its essential nature.