Shloka 51
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
अलिड़्ो लिड्रमात्मानमकाल: कालमात्मन: | असत्त्वं सत्त्वमात्मानमतत्त्वं तत््वमात्मन:
aliḍo liḍram ātmānam akālaḥ kālam ātmanaḥ | asattvaṃ sattvam ātmānam atattvaṃ tattvam ātmanaḥ ||
Vasiṣṭha berkata: “Walau tanpa tanda berupa tubuh halus (liṅga-śarīra), Sang Diri mengira dirinya bertanda olehnya. Walau tak tersentuh waktu, ia mengira terikat oleh waktu dan maut. Walau melampaui guṇa, ia menyangka dirinya tersusun dari sattva; dan walau tanpa unsur-unsur kasar serta prinsip-prinsip lainnya, ia mengira dirinya satu ‘tattva’ di antara tattva-tattva.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that bondage is a cognitive error: the timeless, attributeless Self is falsely identified with the subtle body, time/death, the guṇas (like sattva), and the material principles (tattvas). Liberation follows from correcting this misidentification through discernment.
In Śānti Parva’s mokṣa-oriented instruction, Vasiṣṭha is explaining to his listener how the Self is misconstrued as embodied and perishable. He lists common superimpositions—subtle body, mortality, guṇas, and elements—to show the mechanism of delusion and the need for discriminative knowledge.