Shloka 25
Utkramaṇa-sthāna and Ariṣṭa-lakṣaṇa: Yājñavalkya’s Instruction on Departure Pathways and Mortality Signs
पुमांश्चैवापुमांश्चैव त्रैलिड्रयं प्राकृतं स््मृतम् । न वापुमान् पुमांश्चैव स लिज्लीत्यभिधीयते
puṁś caivāpuṁś caiva trailiṅgyaṁ prākṛtaṁ smṛtam | na vāpuṁān puṁś caiva sa liṅgīty abhidhīyate ||
ວະສິດຖະ ກ່າວວ່າ: «ທັງ ‘ຊາຍ’ ແລະ ‘ບໍ່ແມ່ນຊາຍ’, ພ້ອມທັງສາມປະເພດແຫ່ງເຄື່ອງໝາຍເພດ, ຖືກຈື່ຈຳວ່າເປັນຂອງປະກຣິຕິ (ທໍາມະຊາດວັດຖຸ). ແຕ່ຜູ້ທີ່ຮອງຮັບແລະເປັນຖານຂອງເຄື່ອງໝາຍເຫຼົ່ານັ້ນ—ລິງກີ, ອາດຕະ—ບໍ່ອາດເອີ້ນວ່າຊາຍ ຫຼື ບໍ່ແມ່ນຊາຍໄດ້. ພຣະອົງແຕກຕ່າງຈາກທັງປຸຣຸສະ ແລະ ປະກຣິຕິ, ເກີນກວ່າການແບ່ງປະເພດເຫຼົ່ານັ້ນ».
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Gender and its threefold markers are products of Prakṛti (the guṇa-made field). The true Self (liṅgī), which supports and witnesses these markers, cannot be reduced to any such category; it transcends the oppositions of male/non-male and stands distinct from both Puruṣa and Prakṛti as commonly conceived in embodied experience.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vasiṣṭha explains to his listener that bodily and psychological classifications—here expressed through gender-markers—belong to nature (Prakṛti). He redirects attention to the underlying Self, emphasizing detachment from identity-constructs as a step toward liberation.