Shloka 28
कर्मनाशाभावः, गर्भे जीवप्रवेशः, आचारधर्मोपदेशः
Karma’s Non-Extinction, Jīva’s Entry into the Embryo, and Instruction on Conduct-Dharma
यह प्राकृत जगत् क्षर कहलाता है, इससे भिन्न अविनाशी जीवात्माको अक्षर कहते हैं। (इनसे विलक्षण शुद्ध परब्रह्म हैं)--इन तीनोंमेंसे जो दो तत्त्व--क्षर और अक्षर हैं, वे सब प्रत्येक जीवके लिये पृथक्-पृथक होते हैं ।। असृजत् सर्वभूतानि पूर्वदृष्ट: प्रजापति: । स्थावराणि च भूतानि इत्येषा पौर्विकी श्रुति:,श्रुतिमें जो सृष्टिके आरम्भमें सत्रूपसे निर्दिष्ट हुए हैं, उन प्रजापतिने समस्त स्थावर भूतों और जंगम प्राणियोंकी सृष्टि की है, यह पुरातन श्रुति है
idaṁ prākṛtaṁ jagat kṣara ity ucyate, tasmād bhinnaṁ jīvātmānam avināśinam akṣaram āhuḥ; etābhyāṁ vilakṣaṇaḥ śuddhaḥ parabrahma. etayoḥ kṣarākṣarayor ubhayor api tattvayoḥ sarveṣāṁ jīvānāṁ prati pṛthak-pṛthag bhāvaḥ. asṛjat sarvabhūtāni pūrvadṛṣṭaḥ prajāpatiḥ; sthāvarāṇi ca bhūtāni—ity eṣā paurvikī śrutiḥ.
The Brahmin said: “This manifest, material world is called the perishable (kṣara). Distinct from it, the imperishable individual self is called the imperishable (akṣara). Beyond both stands the pure Supreme Brahman, different in kind from them. Of these two principles—perishable and imperishable—each living being relates to them in its own distinct way. Thus the ancient Vedic tradition declares: ‘The Creator, Prajāpati, foreseeing the primordial order, brought forth all beings—both the immobile and the moving.’”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
It distinguishes three levels of reality: the perishable material world (kṣara), the imperishable individual self (akṣara), and the Supreme Brahman (parabrahman) that transcends both. Ethical implication: one should not mistake changing nature for the self, and should orient life toward the highest, pure reality.
A Brahmin speaker instructs by citing an ‘ancient śruti’ statement: Prajāpati, foreknowing the primordial order, created all beings—immobile and mobile—using this cosmological frame to ground a teaching about the perishable and imperishable.