Shloka 19
Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda
Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped
क्षरो भवत्येष यदा तदा गुणवतीमथ । प्रकृतिं त्वभिजानाति निर्गुणत्वं तथा55त्मन:
kṣaro bhavaty eṣa yadā tadā guṇavatīm atha | prakṛtiṁ tv abhijānāti nirguṇatvaṁ tathātmanaḥ ||
जब यह पुरुष ‘क्षर’ होता है—अर्थात् परमात्मा में लीन हो जाता है—तब वह प्रकृति को सगुण और अपने आत्मस्वरूप को यथार्थतः निर्गुण समझ लेता है।
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Right discernment (viveka): prakṛti is inherently guṇa-made (saguṇa), while the true Self is nirguṇa. Liberation is described as merging into the Supreme, where this distinction becomes directly known.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing on liberation and metaphysical discrimination: as the individual’s identity with change falls away and he becomes absorbed in the Supreme, he recognizes the guṇas as belonging to prakṛti and realizes the Self’s qualityless nature.