Shloka 4
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
कोशकारो यथा<55त्मानं कीट: समवरुन्धति । सूत्रतन्तुगुणर्नित्यं तथायमगुणो गुणौ:,जैसे रेशमका कीड़ा अपने ही उत्पन्न किये हुए तन्तुओंसे अपनेको सब ओरसे बाँध लेता है, उसी प्रकार यह निर्गुण आत्मा भी अपने ही प्रकट किये हुए प्राकृत गुणोंसे बाँध जाता है
kośakāro yathātmānaṁ kīṭaḥ samavarundhati | sūtratantuguṇair nityaṁ tathāyam aguṇo guṇaiḥ ||
ವಸಿಷ್ಠನು ಹೇಳಿದರು—ಹಾಗೆ ಕೋಶಕಾರ ಕೀಟವು ತಾನೇ ಉತ್ಪಾದಿಸಿದ ಸೂತ್ರತಂತುಗಳಿಂದ ತನ್ನನ್ನೇ ಎಲ್ಲೆಡೆ ಆವರಿಸಿ ಬಂಧಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವದೋ, ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಈ ಆತ್ಮನು ನಿಜವಾಗಿ ನಿರ್ಗುಣನಾಗಿದ್ದರೂ ತಾನೇ ಪ್ರಕಟಿಸಿದ ಪ್ರಾಕೃತ ಗುಣಗಳಿಂದಲೇ ಬಂಧಿತನಾಗುತ್ತಾನೆ.
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bondage is self-woven: the Self is intrinsically attributeless (aguṇa), yet through identification with the guṇas of prakṛti—habits, emotions, and mental dispositions it helps manifest—it experiences confinement. Discriminative knowledge (viveka) loosens this identification and points toward liberation.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation, Vasiṣṭha uses a vivid analogy: like a silkworm trapped in its own cocoon, the embodied being becomes trapped by its own produced guṇas. The verse functions as a didactic image within a larger discourse on how saṁsāra arises and how it can be transcended.