Shloka 28
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
अज्ञानवश वह अपनेमें सत्त्व, रज, तम-इन त्रिविध गुणों और धर्म, अर्थ एवं कामका अभिमान कर लेता है ।। प्रकृत्या55त्मानमेवात्मा एवं प्रविभजत्युत । स्वधाकारवषट्कारौ स्वाहाकारनमस्क्रिया:
ajñānavaśaḥ sa ātmany eva sattva-rajas-tamaḥ—iti trividha-guṇānāṃ ca dharma-artha-kāmānāṃ cābhimānaṃ karoti || prakṛtyā ātmānam evātmā evaṃ pravibhajaty uta | svadhākāra-vaṣaṭkārau svāhākāra-namaskriyāḥ ||
Vasiṣṭha dit : « Sous l’emprise de l’ignorance, l’homme superpose au Soi les trois guṇa—sattva, rajas et tamas—et s’approprie aussi le dharma, la richesse (artha) et le plaisir (kāma) comme “miens”. Ainsi, par la force de la prakṛti, le moi se divise et se désigne de multiples façons : il s’identifie à des formules rituelles telles que svadhā et vaṣaṭ, et à des actes comme l’exclamation svāhā et les salutations, prenant ces rôles et ces actions conditionnés pour le Soi véritable. »
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that ignorance makes one falsely identify the Self with nature’s guṇas and with life-goals (dharma, artha, kāma), and even with ritual roles and formulae. This egoic ‘I’ and ‘mine’ is a superimposition; liberation requires discerning the Self as distinct from prakṛti and its conditioned activities.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing about the inner cause of bondage: the mind, under prakṛti and ajñāna, fragments identity into many labels—ethical, economic, sensual, and ritual—thereby obscuring the true Self. The passage functions as a philosophical admonition within Śānti Parva’s teachings on peace and liberation.