Shloka 5
जनक–सुलभा संवादः
Janaka–Sulabhā Dialogue on Mokṣa and Non-attachment
बुध्यते यदि वाव्यक्तमेतद् वै पजचविंशकम् । बुध्यमानो भवत्येव सज्भात्मक इति श्रुति: । अनेनाप्रतिबुद्धेति वदन्त्यव्यक्तमच्युतम्,यदि यह मान लिया जाय कि प्रकृति भी जानती है तो यह केवल पचीसवें तत्त्व-- पुरुषको ही उससे संयुक्त होकर जान पाती है, प्रकृतिके साथ संयुक्त होनेके कारण ही जीव संगात्मक (संगी) होता है; ऐसा श्रुतिका कथन है। इस संगदोषके कारण ही अव्यक्त एवं अविकारी जीवात्माको लोग '"मूढ़” कह दिया करते हैं
budhyate yadi vāvyaktam etad vai pañcaviṁśakam | budhyamāno bhavaty eva saṅghātmaka iti śrutiḥ | anenāpratibuddheti vadanty avyaktam acyutam |
Dijo Vasiṣṭha: Si se supusiera que Prakṛti (lo Inmanifestado) “conoce”, ese conocer sólo es posible mediante el vigésimo quinto principio—Puruṣa—cuando está unido a ella. Por la asociación con Prakṛti, el yo individual se vuelve ‘saṅghātmaka’, ligado a los agregados; así lo declara la Śruti. Y por esa misma falta de asociación, la gente llama “no despierto” o “extraviado” al Ser inmanifestado e inmutable, aunque en verdad es inalterable.
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cognition and agency are wrongly attributed to Prakṛti; in Sāṅkhya terms, ‘knowing’ pertains to Puruṣa (the 25th principle). The jīva appears bound and ‘deluded’ only due to association (saṅga) with Prakṛti and its aggregates; the Self itself remains unchanging.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vasiṣṭha clarifies a subtle point about consciousness: if the unmanifest Prakṛti is said to ‘know’, that knowing is actually the reflected/associated knowing of Puruṣa. He explains how misidentification through association leads people to label the immutable Self as ignorant.