Shloka 36

Utkramaṇa-sthāna and Ariṣṭa-lakṣaṇa: Yājñavalkya’s Instruction on Departure Pathways and Mortality Signs

Devanagari script

परस्परेणैतदुक्तं क्षराक्षरनिदर्शनम्‌ । एकत्वमक्षरं प्राहुननिात्व॑ क्षरमुच्यते,क्षर और अक्षरके तत्त्वका प्रतिपादन करनेवाला यह दर्शन मैंने तुम्हें बताया है। क्षर और अक्षरमें परस्पर क्या अन्तर है? इसे इस प्रकार समझो--सदा एकरूपमें रहनेवाले परमात्मतत्त्वको अक्षर बताया गया है और नाना रूपोंमें प्रतीत होनेवाला यह प्राकृत प्रपंच क्षर कहलाता है

Transliteration

paraspareṇaitad uktaṁ kṣarākṣara-nidarśanam | ekatvam akṣaraṁ prāhur nānātvaṁ kṣaram ucyate ||

Translation

ヴァシシュタは言った。「可滅（クシャラ）と不可滅（アクシャラ）についてのこの譬えは、互いを照らし合わせて述べられた。賢者は、一にして変わらぬものを『不可滅』と呼び、多様に分かれ、さまざまに現れるものを『可滅』と呼ぶ。」

Word by Word

परस्परेणmutually / by one another

एतत्this

उक्तम्said / spoken

क्षर-अक्षर-निदर्शनम्an exposition/illustration of the perishable and imperishable

एकत्वम्oneness

अक्षरम्imperishable

प्राहुःthey say / they have declared

नानात्वम्multiplicity / diversity

क्षरम्perishable

उच्यतेis called / is said

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vasiṣṭha

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse distinguishes two levels of reality: the imperishable (akṣara), characterized by oneness and unchanging nature, and the perishable (kṣara), characterized by plurality and change. Ethical and spiritual clarity comes from recognizing the stable ground of the Self/ultimate principle amid the shifting world of appearances.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Vasiṣṭha continues a philosophical exposition, explaining to his listener(s) how to understand the difference between the imperishable principle and the perishable phenomenal manifestation, using a concise definitional contrast: unity versus multiplicity.