Shloka 28

अव्यक्त–पुरुष–विवेकः (Discrimination of Avyakta/Prakṛti and Puruṣa) — Yājñavalkya’s Anvīkṣikī to Viśvāvasu

Devanagari script

अहड्कारस्तु महतस्तृतीयमिति न: श्रुतम्‌ पज्चभूतान्यहड्कारादाहु: सांख्यात्मदर्शिन:,महत्तत्त्व्से अहंकार प्रकट हुआ, जो तीसरा तत्त्व है। ऐसा हमारे सुननेमें आया है। अहंकारसे पाँच सूक्ष्म भूतोंकी अर्थात्‌ पञ्चतन्मात्राओंकी उत्पत्ति हुई; यह सांख्यात्मदर्शी विद्वानोंका कथन है

Transliteration

ahaṅkāras tu mahatas tṛtīyam iti naḥ śrutam | pañcabhūtāny ahaṅkārād āhuḥ sāṅkhyātma-darśinaḥ ||

Translation

ವಸಿಷ್ಠನು ಹೇಳಿದರು—ಮಹತ್‌ನಿಂದ ಅಹಂಕಾರ ಉದ್ಭವಿಸುತ್ತದೆ; ಅದು ಮೂರನೆಯ ತತ್ತ್ವವೆಂದು ನಾವು ಕೇಳಿದ್ದೇವೆ. ಅಹಂಕಾರದಿಂದಲೇ ಐದು ತನ್ಮಾತ್ರೆಗಳು/ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮಭೂತಗಳು ಹುಟ್ಟುತ್ತವೆ ಎಂದು ಆತ್ಮದರ್ಶನ ಹೊಂದಿದ ಸಾಂಖ್ಯ ಪಂಡಿತರು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ.

Word by Word

• {'ahaṅkāraḥ': 'ego-principle

• the ‘I-maker’ that appropriates experience as ‘mine’', 'tu': 'but

• indeed (contrast/emphasis)', 'mahataḥ': 'from Mahat

• from the Great Principle (cosmic intellect)', 'tṛtīyam': 'the third (principle/tattva)', 'iti': 'thus

• as (a quotation marker)', 'naḥ': 'for us

• by us', 'śrutam': 'heard

• received by tradition', 'pañca': 'five', 'bhūtāni': 'elements/elemental principles (often referring to subtle elemental bases in Sāṅkhya context)', 'ahaṅkārāt': 'from ahaṅkāra (ablative: ‘from’)', 'āhuḥ': 'they say

• they declare', 'sāṅkhya-ātma-darśinaḥ': 'Sāṅkhya seers who perceive the Self

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vasiṣṭha
• Mahat (महत्तत्त्व)
• Ahaṅkāra (अहङ्कार)
• Sāṅkhya seers (सांख्यात्मदर्शिनः)
• Five elemental principles (पञ्चभूतानि / पञ्चतन्मात्रा)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse states a Sāṅkhya-style sequence of principles: from Mahat arises Ahaṅkāra as the third tattva, and from Ahaṅkāra arise the five elemental principles (understood in many traditions as the subtle elemental bases). The implied spiritual lesson is that the ego-sense is a derivative principle; recognizing it as produced and not the true Self supports detachment and liberation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, Vasiṣṭha is instructing his listener by presenting a philosophical account of creation and inner bondage. He cites what is ‘heard’ in tradition and what Sāṅkhya seers declare, using cosmology to frame the origin of ego and the constituents of experience.