Shloka 2
Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda
Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped
अविद्यामाहुरव्यक्तं सर्गप्रलयधर्मि वै । सर्गप्रलयनिर्मुक्तां विद्यां वै पडचविंशक:
Vasiṣṭha uvāca: avidyām āhur avyaktam sarga-pralaya-dharmi vai | sarga-pralaya-nirmuktāṁ vidyāṁ vai pañcaviṁśakam ||
वसिष्ठ बोले—मुनि सृष्टि और प्रलय के धर्मवाले अव्यक्त (प्रकृति) को ‘अविद्या’ कहते हैं। परन्तु जो सृष्टि-प्रलय से रहित, चौबीस तत्त्वों से परे पचीसवाँ तत्त्व—परम पुरुष, परमात्मा—है, वही ‘विद्या’ कहलाता है।
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ignorance is identification with the unmanifest prakṛti that undergoes creation and dissolution; true knowledge is recognition of the twenty-fifth principle—the Puruṣa/Paramātman—transcending the changing cycle of sarga and pralaya.
In a didactic discourse within Śānti Parva, Vasiṣṭha instructs by defining ‘avidyā’ and ‘vidyā’ in Sāṅkhya terms, contrasting the changeful cosmic principle (avyakta/prakṛti) with the changeless Supreme Self beyond the twenty-four tattvas.