Shloka 15
Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda
Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped
यदा तु गुणजालं तदव्यक्तात्मनि संक्षिपेत् । तदा सह गुणैस्तैस्तु पजचविंशो विलीयते
yadā tu guṇajālaṃ tadavyaktātmani saṃkṣipet | tadā saha guṇais tais tu pañcaviṃśo vilīyate ||
Vasiṣṭha dit : «Lorsque le yogin, par la puissance du yoga, retire toute la trame des guṇa et la résorbe dans le Soi inmanifesté — la nature primordiale, non manifestée —, alors, avec la dissolution de ces guṇa, le vingt-cinquième principe, Puruṣa, se dissout lui aussi dans le Soi suprême. De ce point de vue, même ce Puruṣa peut être dit “kṣara”, périssable, en tant qu’il est décrit comme se fondant dans la réalité la plus haute.»
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberation is described as a reversal of manifestation: the yogin withdraws the guṇas and their effects back into the unmanifest source (avyakta). With the guṇas dissolved, even the Sāṃkhya ‘twenty-fifth’ principle (Puruṣa) is spoken of as merging into the Supreme Self—highlighting a perspective in which all enumerated principles are transcended in the highest realization.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation, Vasiṣṭha explains a yogic process of dissolution (laya): the manifested qualities (guṇas) are reabsorbed into the unmanifest root, and with that reabsorption the individual conscious principle (Puruṣa, as counted among tattvas) is said to merge into the supreme reality.