Shloka 42
अव्यक्त–पुरुष–विवेकः (Discrimination of Avyakta/Prakṛti and Puruṣa) — Yājñavalkya’s Anvīkṣikī to Viśvāvasu
अव्यक्तको क्षेत्र कहा गया है। उसीको सत्त्व (बुद्धि) और शासककी भी संज्ञा दी गयी है; परंतु पचीसवाँ तत्त्व परमपुरुष परमात्मा जड तत्त्व और ईश्वरसे रहित भिन्न है ।। सांख्यदर्शनमेतावत् परिसंख्यानुदर्शनम् । सांख्या: प्रकुर्वते चैव प्रकृतिं च प्रचक्षते
avyaktakaḥ kṣetraḥ kathitaḥ; sa eva sattva-buddhi-śāsaka-saṃjñitaḥ. pañcaviṃśas tu tattvaḥ paramapuruṣaḥ paramātmā jaḍa-tattvāt īśvararahitāt pṛthag bhinnaḥ. sāṅkhyadarśanam etāvat pari-saṅkhyānudārśanam; sāṅkhyāḥ prakurvante caiva prakṛtiṃ ca pracakṣate.
ヴァシシュタは言った。「未顕（avyakta）は『場』（kṣetra）であると宣言される。同じ原理はまたサットヴァ（sattva）――すなわち識別する बुद्धि（buddhi, 知性）――とも、内なる統御者とも呼ばれる。だが第二十五の原理、至上のプルシャ（Paramapuruṣa）、至上我（Paramātman）は、別として立つ。無情の物質とは異なり、主なき物質原理へと還元されるものではない。これが数論（Sāṅkhya）の見解である――数え上げによる分析であり、数論家は諸範疇を説き、根本の源をプラクリティ（Prakṛti）と名づける。」
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a Sāṅkhya-style analysis: the unmanifest (avyakta) is treated as the ‘field’ of experience and is associated with intellect and inner governance, but the twenty-fifth principle—the Supreme Self/Puruṣa—is distinct from inert matter and should not be collapsed into a purely material, Īśvara-less account. Liberation-oriented discernment depends on separating the Self from Prakṛti.
In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, Vasiṣṭha instructs by summarizing Sāṅkhya categories and clarifying the distinction between Prakṛti (the source of material principles) and the transcendent Self (Paramātmā/Paramapuruṣa), emphasizing correct metaphysical discrimination as part of spiritual instruction.