Shloka 45

नारद–शुक संवादः

Impermanence, Svabhāva, and Śuka’s Resolve for Yoga

Devanagari script

अजौ नित्यावुभौ प्राहुरध्यात्मगतिनिश्चया:,उसी प्रकार अव्यक्त प्रकृति वेद्य (जाननेमें आनेवाली) है और पुरुष अवेद्य (जाननेमें न आनेवाला)। अध्यात्मतत्त्वका निश्चयात्मक ज्ञान रखनेवाले विद्वान्‌ कहते हैं कि प्रकृति और पुरुष दोनों ही अज्ञ हैं, दोनों ही निश्चल हैं और दोनों ही अक्षय, अजन्मा तथा नित्य हैं

Transliteration

ajau nityāv ubhau prāhur adhyātma-gati-niścayāḥ |

avyaktā prakṛtir vedyā puruṣo ’vedya ucyate |

prakṛtiṃ puruṣaṃ caiva vidvān āhur ajau sthirau |

akṣayau cāpy ajau nityau ||

Translation

അധ്യാത്മഗതിയിൽ ദൃഢനിശ്ചയം നേടിയ ഋഷിമാർ പറയുന്നു—അവർ ഇരുവരും അജവും നിത്യവും. അവ്യക്ത പ്രകൃതി ജ്ഞേയമാണ്; പുരുഷൻ അജ്ഞേയൻ എന്നു പറയപ്പെടുന്നു. ജ്ഞാനികൾ പറയുന്നു—പ്രകൃതിയും പുരുഷനും ഇരുവരും ധ്രുവം, അചലം, അക്ഷയം, സനാതനം.

Word by Word

• {'ajau (aja)': 'unborn

• not produced', 'nityau (nitya)': 'eternal

• constant', 'ubhau': 'both (of them)', 'prāhuḥ': 'they declare

• they say', 'adhyātma': 'pertaining to the self/inner reality

• spiritual', 'gati': 'path

• attainment', 'niścayāḥ': 'those with certainty

• firmly ascertained', 'avyaktā': 'unmanifest

• not evident to the senses', 'prakṛtiḥ': 'primordial nature

• material principle', 'vedyā': 'knowable

• to be understood', 'puruṣaḥ': 'conscious principle

• the Self', 'avedyaḥ': 'unknowable as an object

• not an object of cognition', 'vidvān/vidvāṃsaḥ': 'the wise

• learned person(s)', 'sthirau': 'steady

• unmoving', 'akṣayau': 'imperishable

Speaker

याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yājñavalkya
• Prakṛti
• Puruṣa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse distinguishes between Prakṛti (the unmanifest source of material experience, knowable as an object of analysis) and Puruṣa (pure consciousness, not objectifiable). Both are described as unborn, eternal, steady, and imperishable, encouraging detachment from transient phenomena and steadiness in inner inquiry.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Yājñavalkya delivers a doctrinal clarification to seekers: he summarizes how realized thinkers characterize the two fundamental principles—Prakṛti and Puruṣa—framing the contemplative path (adhyātma-gati) in terms of what can be known and what transcends object-knowledge.