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 ||
വസിഷ്ഠൻ പറഞ്ഞു— ‘പുരുഷൻ’ ‘അപുരുഷൻ’ എന്നും, ലിംഗചിഹ്നങ്ങളുടെ ത്രിവിധത്വവും—ഇവയെല്ലാം പ്രാകൃതമെന്നു സ്മരിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു. എന്നാൽ അവയെ ധരിക്കുകയും ആധാരമാവുകയും ചെയ്യുന്ന ‘ലിംഗി’യായ ആത്മാവ് പുരുഷനുമല്ല അപുരുഷനുമല്ല; അവൻ ഇരുവർക്കും അതീതൻ.
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.