Shloka 25
Utkramaṇa-sthāna and Ariṣṭa-lakṣaṇa: Yājñavalkya’s Instruction on Departure Pathways and Mortality Signs
पुमांश्चैवापुमांश्चैव त्रैलिड्रयं प्राकृतं स््मृतम् । न वापुमान् पुमांश्चैव स लिज्लीत्यभिधीयते
puṁś caivāpuṁś caiva trailiṅgyaṁ prākṛtaṁ smṛtam | na vāpuṁān puṁś caiva sa liṅgīty abhidhīyate ||
Dijo Vasiṣṭha: «Tanto lo “masculino” como lo “no masculino”, e incluso la tríada de marcas de género, se recuerdan como pertenecientes a Prakṛti (la naturaleza material). Pero aquel que porta y sostiene esas marcas—el Liṅgī, el Sí mismo que les sirve de soporte—no puede ser llamado ni masculino ni no masculino. Es distinto de Puruṣa y de Prakṛti, y trasciende sus clasificaciones.»
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Gender and its threefold markers are products of Prakṛti (the guṇa-made field). The true Self (liṅgī), which supports and witnesses these markers, cannot be reduced to any such category; it transcends the oppositions of male/non-male and stands distinct from both Puruṣa and Prakṛti as commonly conceived in embodied experience.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vasiṣṭha explains to his listener that bodily and psychological classifications—here expressed through gender-markers—belong to nature (Prakṛti). He redirects attention to the underlying Self, emphasizing detachment from identity-constructs as a step toward liberation.