Shloka 27
Utkramaṇa-sthāna and Ariṣṭa-lakṣaṇa: Yājñavalkya’s Instruction on Departure Pathways and Mortality Signs
एवमप्यनुमानेन हालिड्रमुपल भ्यते । पजञ्चविंशतिमस्तात लिड्लेषु नियतात्मक:
evam apy anumānena hālīdram upalabhyate | pañcaviṁśatim astāt liṅgeṣu niyatātmakaḥ ||
ວາສິດຖະ ກ່າວວ່າ: «ແມ່ນແທ້ດັ່ງນັ້ນ ໂດຍອະນຸມານ (ການອະນຸມານອີງເຫດຜົນ) ຈຶ່ງຮູ້ໄດ້ເຖິງອາດຕະມັນອັນບໍລິສຸດ ເປັນຈິດສຳນຶກລ້ວນໆ ແລະແຍກອອກຈາກ “ເຄື່ອງໝາຍ” (liṅga) ທັງປວງ. ເຫມືອນດວງອາທິດ ເພາະມັນສ່ອງແສງໃຫ້ສິ່ງທີ່ເຫັນ ຈຶ່ງຮູ້ວ່າມັນຕ່າງຈາກວັດຖຸທີ່ເຫັນ; ອາດຕະມັນຜູ້ມີສະພາບເປັນຄວາມຮູ້ ກໍຕ່າງຈາກສິ່ງທີ່ຮູ້ໄດ້ທັງປວງ ເພາະມັນເປັນຜູ້ເປີດເຜີຍສິ່ງເຫຼົ່ານັ້ນ. ໂອ້ຜູ້ຮັກ, ອາດຕະມັນນັ້ນແມ່ນຕັດຕະທີ 25 ທີ່ແຜ່ຊຶມໃນສະພາບມີກາຍທັງປວງຢ່າງຄົງທີ່».
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Self (ātman/puruṣa) is not an object among objects; it is the illuminator of all knowables. Therefore it is known not by direct sensory grasp but by inference—recognizing that whatever is revealed requires a revealer. This Self is identified as the twenty-fifth principle (puruṣa) that pervades all embodied states.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing a listener (addressed affectionately as ‘dear one’) in discriminative knowledge: distinguishing consciousness from the ‘liṅgas’—the marks or constituents associated with embodiment. He uses an inference-based analogy (and, in the accompanying gloss, the sun’s illumination) to argue that the knower is distinct from the known.