Shloka 30

Devanagari script

एतावदेव तत्त्वानां सांख्यमाहुर्मनीषिण: । सांख्ये विधिविधानज्ञा नित्यं सांख्यपथे रता:,सांख्यशास्त्रीय विधि-विधानके ज्ञाता और सदा सांख्यमार्गमें ही अनुरक्त रहनेवाले मनीषी पुरुष इतनी ही सांख्यसम्मत तत्त्वोंकी संख्या बतलाते हैं। अर्थात्‌ अव्यक्त, महत्तत्त्व, अहंकार तथा पज्चतन्मात्रा--इन आठ प्रकृतियोंसहित उपर्युक्त सोलह विकार मिलकर कुल चौबीस तत्त्व सांख्यशास्त्रके विद्वानोंने स्वीकार किये हैं

Transliteration

etāvad eva tattvānāṃ sāṅkhyam āhur manīṣiṇaḥ | sāṅkhye vidhividhānajñā nityaṃ sāṅkhyapathe ratāḥ ||

Translation

Vasiṣṭha dit : «Tel est, et tel seulement, le dénombrement sāṅkhya des principes, ainsi que l’énoncent les sages. Ceux qui connaissent la méthode et la discipline propres au Sāṅkhya, et demeurent sans cesse voués à sa voie, établissent exactement ce compte des réalités.»

Word by Word

एतावत्this much, so much

एवonly, indeed

तत्त्वानाम्of the principles (tattvas)

सांख्यम्the enumeration / Sāṅkhya (count)

आहुःthey say

मनीषिणःthe wise (sages)

सांख्येin Sāṅkhya

विधिrule, injunction

विधानprocedure, arrangement

ज्ञाःknowers

नित्यम्always

सांख्यof Sāṅkhya

पथेon the path

रताःengaged, devoted

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vasiṣṭha

Sāṅkhya (doctrine/path)

manīṣiṇaḥ (wise sages)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse affirms that Sāṅkhya is fundamentally an exact enumeration of tattvas (principles of reality), and that authoritative teachers who follow Sāṅkhya’s disciplined method agree on a definite, limited count—classically understood as the standard Sāṅkhya set of principles.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha is instructing his listener within the Śānti Parva’s philosophical discourse, clarifying what competent Sāṅkhya practitioners maintain about the number of fundamental principles, thereby grounding the discussion in a recognized doctrinal consensus.