Shloka 47

नारद–शुक संवादः

Impermanence, Svabhāva, and Śuka’s Resolve for Yoga

Devanagari script

गुणक्षयत्वात्‌ प्रकृति: कर्तृत्वादक्षयं बुधा: । एषा ते<<न्वीक्षिकी विद्या चतुर्थी साम्परायिकी

Transliteration

guṇakṣayatvāt prakṛtiḥ kartṛtvād akṣayaṃ budhāḥ | eṣā te ’nvīkṣikī vidyā caturthī sāmparāyikī ||

Translation

«Parce que ses qualités (guṇas) sont sujettes à diminution et à dissolution, la Nature primordiale (prakṛti) est tenue pour périssable ; mais parce que la Personne (puruṣa) est l’instigateur et l’agent intérieur, les sages la déclarent impérissable. Ô roi des Gandharvas, voici la quatrième discipline d’enquête (ānvīkṣikī) que je t’ai enseignée — un savoir qui touche à la fin suprême et soutient la délivrance.»

Word by Word

• {'guṇa': 'constituent quality of nature (sattva, rajas, tamas)

• a binding modality', 'kṣaya': 'decay, diminution, dissolution', 'guṇakṣayatva': 'the state of being subject to the decay of the guṇas', 'prakṛti': 'primordial nature

• the field of changing qualities', 'kartṛtva': 'agency

• being the doer/instigator (in the sense of inner prompting)', 'akṣaya': 'imperishable

• not subject to decay', 'budha': 'the wise

• the discerning', 'ānvīkṣikī vidyā': 'the discipline of rational inquiry/metaphysical investigation', 'caturthī': 'the fourth (in a set of teachings/disciplines)', 'sāmparāyikī': 'pertaining to the hereafter/supreme end

Speaker

याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yājñavalkya
• Gandharvarāja (King of the Gandharvas)
• prakṛti
• puruṣa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse distinguishes prakṛti and puruṣa: prakṛti is perishable because it is constituted by guṇas that undergo change and dissolution, while puruṣa is imperishable as the inner principle associated with agency/instigation. This discrimination is presented as ānvīkṣikī—philosophical inquiry—aimed at the highest good (mokṣa).

What is happening in the narrative?

Yājñavalkya addresses the Gandharva king and concludes a segment of instruction by presenting a doctrinal summary: he has taught a ‘fourth’ ānvīkṣikī vidyā, characterized as sāmparāyikī—knowledge oriented toward the ultimate end and liberation.