Shloka 17
जनक–सुलभा संवादः
Janaka–Sulabhā Dialogue on Mokṣa and Non-attachment
षड्विंशेन प्रबुद्धेन बुध्यमानो>प्यबुद्धिमान् । एतन्नानात्वमित्युक्त सांख्यश्रुतिनिदर्शनात्
ṣaḍviṁśena prabuddhena budhyamāno 'py abuddhimān | etan nānātvam ity uktaṁ sāṅkhyaśruti-nidarśanāt ||
Vasiṣṭha dit : Bien que le soi individuel soit éveillé par le vingt-sixième principe et qu’ainsi il en vienne à connaître l’agrégat inerte, il demeure pourtant sans sagesse—car, tout en connaissant le champ de la matière, il ne connaît pas le Soi suprême. Cette ignorance même est déclarée cause de la servitude de l’âme sous la forme de la multiplicité, comme l’indiquent l’enseignement du Sāṅkhya et le témoignage de la tradition upaniṣadique.
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Knowing the inert or material aggregate is not the same as knowing the Supreme Self. Without realization of the Supreme, the jīva remains in ignorance, and that ignorance generates bondage experienced as multiplicity (nānātva).
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation, Vasiṣṭha explains a philosophical point: the soul may gain a kind of awakening that enables it to cognize the material domain, yet it remains truly unwise if it fails to recognize the Supreme Reality. He supports this by appealing to Sāṅkhya categories and to śruti authority.