Shloka 42
नारद–शुक संवादः
Impermanence, Svabhāva, and Śuka’s Resolve for Yoga
(सूर्यमव्यक्तमित्युक्तमतिसूर्यस्तु निष्कल: । अविद्या प्रकृतिज्ञेया विद्या पुरुष उच्यते ।।
yājñavalkya uvāca |
(sūryam avyaktam ity uktam ati-sūryas tu niṣkalaḥ |
avidyā prakṛtir jñeyā vidyā puruṣa ucyate ||)
tathaivāvedyam avyaktam vedyaḥ puruṣa ucyate |
calācalam iti proktaṃ tvayā vā tad api me śṛṇu ||
Yājñavalkya dijo: «Al principio inmanifestado se le llama “sol”; pero la realidad sin partes y sin atributos es llamada “más allá del sol”. Conoce a Prakṛti como ignorancia (avidyā) y al Puruṣa como conocimiento (vidyā). Asimismo, lo inmanifestado se describe como “incognoscible”, mientras que el Puruṣa es llamado “cognoscible”. Y en cuanto a lo que preguntaste sobre lo móvil y lo inmóvil, escucha también eso ahora».
याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes two principles: Prakṛti, identified with avidyā (ignorance) and the unmanifest basis of change, and Puruṣa, identified with vidyā (knowledge) as the knowable conscious reality. It uses metaphors (‘sun’ and ‘beyond-sun’) to indicate levels of subtlety and transcendence, pointing toward liberation through right discernment.
In the Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Yājñavalkya answers a questioner by defining key metaphysical categories—unmanifest nature and conscious self—and then signals that he will proceed to explain the distinction between the moving and the unmoving.