Shloka 71

Devanagari script

अनेन प्रतिबोधेन प्रधान प्रवदन्ति तत्‌ । सांख्ययोगाश्च तत्त्वज्ञा यथाश्रुतिनिदर्शनात्‌,सांख्य और योगके तत्त्वज्ञानी दिद्वान्‌ श्रुतिमें किये हुए निरूपणके अनुसार जलमें प्रतिबिम्बित होनेवाले चन्द्रमाके समान प्रकृतिमें ज्ञानस्वरूप जीवात्माके बोधका प्रतिबिम्ब पड़नेसे उस प्रकृतिको प्रधान कहते हैं

Transliteration

anena pratibodhena pradhānaṁ pravadanti tat | sāṅkhyayogāś ca tattvajñā yathāśrutinidarśanāt ||

Translation

ഇത്തരത്തിലുള്ള പ്രതിബോധവും പ്രതിബിംബവും കൊണ്ടാണ് അതിനെ ‘പ്രധാന’മെന്ന് പറയുന്നത്. സാംഖ്യ-യോഗ തത്ത്വജ്ഞർ ശ്രുതിയിലെ സൂചനകൾ അനുസരിച്ച് വിശദീകരിക്കുന്നു— ജലത്തിൽ ചന്ദ്രൻ പ്രതിഫലിക്കുന്നതുപോലെ, ചേതന ജീവാത്മാവിന്റെ ജ്ഞാനപ്രകാശം പ്രകൃതിയിൽ പ്രതിബിംബിതമായതായി തോന്നുന്നു; ആ പ്രതിബിംബിത ബോധം കൊണ്ടാണ് പ്രകൃതി ‘പ്രധാന’മെന്നു വിളിക്കപ്പെടുന്നത്.

Word by Word

• {'anena': 'by this

• through this (instrumental of idam)', 'pratibodhena': 'by awakening/realization

• by the ‘reflected’ apprehension', 'pradhānam': 'Pradhāna

• unmanifest Nature (often identified with Prakṛti in Sāṅkhya)', 'pravadanti': 'they declare

• they describe', 'tat': 'that (principle)', 'sāṅkhya-yogāḥ': 'Sāṅkhya and Yoga (systems/paths of knowledge and discipline)', 'tattva-jñāḥ': 'knowers of reality

• those who know the principles (tattvas)', 'yathā': 'according as

• in the manner that', 'śruti-nidarśanāt': 'from the indications/illustrations of Śruti (Vedic revelation)

• on the authority of Śruti', 'prakṛti': 'Nature

• the field of manifesting qualities (guṇas)', 'jīva-ātman': 'the individual self (as spoken of in embodied context)', 'jñāna-svarūpa': 'whose nature is consciousness/knowledge', 'pratibimba': 'reflection

• mirrored appearance (as in water)', 'candra': 'the moon', 'jala': 'water'}

Speaker

याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yājñavalkya
• Pradhāna
• Sāṅkhya
• Yoga
• Śruti
• Prakṛti
• Jīva/Ātman
• Moon (candra)
• Water (jala)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Pradhāna (primordial Nature) is spoken of as Prakṛti insofar as it appears to ‘carry’ cognition due to a reflected awareness: consciousness belongs to the Self, yet it seems mirrored in Nature—like the moon reflected in water—producing the appearance that Prakṛti is knowing.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yājñavalkya is explaining a Sāṅkhya–Yoga account of how experience arises: the Self is intrinsically conscious, while Prakṛti is the material basis; by Śruti-supported reasoning and analogy, he clarifies why the primordial principle is termed Pradhāna and how apparent knowing can be attributed to Nature through reflection.