Shloka 22
Adhyāya 302: Guṇa-vicāra, Gati-bheda, and the Imperishable State
Yājñavalkya–Janaka
अव्यक्ताद् व्यक्तमापन्नं विद्यासर्ग वदन्ति तम् । महान्तं चाप्यहड़कारमविद्यासर्गमेव च
avyaktād vyaktam āpannaṃ vidyāsargaṃ vadanti tam | mahāntaṃ cāpy ahaṅkāram avidyāsargam eva ca ||
वसिष्ठ बोले—अव्यक्त (निराकार) से व्यक्त (साकार) में जो प्रकट होना है, उसे ‘विद्या-सर्ग’ कहा जाता है। परन्तु ‘महत्’ तत्त्व और ‘अहंकार’ का उदय ‘अविद्या-सर्ग’ ही कहलाता है।
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes two modes of ‘creation’: the movement from the unmanifest to manifest nature is termed vidyā-sarga (aligned with discernment), while the arising of Mahat and Ahaṅkāra is termed avidyā-sarga because it supports ego-based misidentification and bondage unless rightly understood.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vasiṣṭha explains a Sāṅkhya-style account of manifestation, classifying stages of cosmic evolution and indicating which principles tend to aid knowledge and which tend to entangle beings through ego and ignorance.