Shloka 15
नारद–शुक संवादः (Nārada–Śuka Dialogue): Tyāga, Saṃyama, and Vyakta–Avyakta Viveka
मनस्तथैवाहंकारे प्रतिष्ठाप्प नराधिप । अहंकार तथा बुद्धौ बुद्धिं च प्रकृतावपि
manas tathaivāhaṅkāre pratiṣṭhāpya narādhipa | ahaṅkāras tathā buddhau buddhiṁ ca prakṛtāv api ||
Yājñavalkya dijo: «Oh rey, al asentar la mente en el sentido del yo (ahaṃkāra), y el sentido del yo en el intelecto (buddhi), y el intelecto de nuevo en Prakṛti (la Naturaleza primordial), uno remonta las facultades internas hasta su fundamento más sutil. Éste es el orden contemplativo por el cual el hombre comprende que la vida mental depende de principios más hondos y afloja su apego a los mudables vaivenes del pensamiento».
याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a hierarchical mapping of inner faculties—mind (manas) grounded in ego-sense (ahaṅkāra), ego-sense in intellect (buddhi), and intellect in Prakṛti—so that one sees these as conditioned processes rather than the true Self, aiding detachment and liberation-oriented discernment.
In a didactic dialogue within Śānti Parva, the sage Yājñavalkya instructs a king on contemplative analysis of the psyche, explaining how to ‘place’ each faculty into its subtler source as part of a philosophical teaching on the constituents of experience and the path to inner peace.