Shloka 13
ब्रह्मघोष-प्रवर्तनम्, अनध्याय-नियमः, वायु-मार्ग-वर्णनम्
Restoring Vedic Recitation, the Anadhyaya Rule, and the Taxonomy of Winds
पुरुष प्रकृतिसे भिन्न और नित्य है तथा अव्यक्त (प्रकृति) पुरुषसे भिन्न एवं अनित्य है। जैसे सींकसे मूँज अलग होती है, उसी प्रकार प्रकृति भी पुरुषसे पृथक् है ।।
puruṣaḥ prakṛteḥ bhinnaḥ nityaś ca; avyaktā (prakṛtiḥ) api puruṣāt bhinnā anityā ca. yathā śīṅkāt muñjaḥ pṛthak, tathā prakṛtir api puruṣāt pṛthak. anyac ca maśakaṃ vidyāt anyac codumbaraṃ tathā; na codumbarasaṃyogaiḥ maśakas tatra lipyate. tathā matsyaḥ anyo dravyaṃ, jalaṃ cānyat; jalasparśena matsyo na kadācana lipyate.
ヤージュニャヴァルキヤは言った。「プルシャ（Puruṣa、覚知する自己）はプラクリティ（Prakṛti）と異なり、常住である。未顕（すなわちプラクリティ）もまたプルシャと異なるが、常住ではない。ムンジャ草がその茎から分けられるように、プラクリティもプルシャから別である。さらに知れ。小さき蚋は一物、ウドゥンバラ（udumbara、房なりの無花果）は一物である。共に在っても、ただの同居によって蚋が無花果に染まることはない。同様に、魚は一物、水は一物である。水に触れても魚は決して汚れない。ゆえに、ただ近接し触れるだけでは、真我は物質自然によって真に縛られも汚されもしない。」
याज़्वल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches viveka (discriminative knowledge): the conscious Self (Puruṣa) is essentially distinct from material nature (Prakṛti/Avyakta). Because bondage is only due to association (saṃyoga) and misidentification, the Self is not truly tainted by the body-mind or by contact with the world—just as a gnat is not ‘smeared’ by the fig it inhabits, and a fish is not stained by water.
In the Śānti Parva’s mokṣa-oriented instruction, the sage Yājñavalkya is expounding metaphysical doctrine to clarify how liberation is possible. He uses everyday similes (muñja from its stalk; gnat and udumbara; fish and water) to show that proximity does not imply identity, reinforcing detachment and the understanding that the Self remains untouched.