Shloka 41
अव्यक्त–पुरुष–विवेकः (Discrimination of Avyakta/Prakṛti and Puruṣa) — Yājñavalkya’s Anvīkṣikī to Viśvāvasu
अव्यक्तं क्षेत्रमित्युक्ते तथा सत्त्वं तथेश्वर: । अनीश्वरमतत्त्वं च तत्त्व तत् पजचविंशकम्
avyaktaṃ kṣetram ity ukte tathā sattvaṃ tatheśvaraḥ | anīśvaram atattvaṃ ca tattva tat pañcaviṃśakam ||
Vasiṣṭha dit : «Lorsque le Non‑Manifesté (avyakta) est nommé “champ” (kṣetra), on parle aussi, avec lui, de sattva et du Seigneur. Mais ce qui est sans Seigneur n’est pas la réalité ; la réalité est ce vingt‑cinquième principe.»
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes the unmanifest ‘field’ (kṣetra) and associated categories from the ultimate governing reality: without acknowledging a Lord/overseeing Self, the account remains ‘non-reality’ (atattva); true reality is the twenty-fifth principle, the transcendent ruler beyond the twenty-four principles of prakṛti.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing on philosophical discrimination in the Śānti Parva: he frames the ‘field’ as the unmanifest basis of nature and then asserts that a complete and true account must include the supreme governing principle (the twenty-fifth tattva), guiding the listener toward right understanding for liberation-oriented dharma.