Shloka 71

नारद–शुक संवादः

Impermanence, Svabhāva, and Śuka’s Resolve for Yoga

Devanagari script

अनेन प्रतिबोधेन प्रधान प्रवदन्ति तत्‌ । सांख्ययोगाश्च तत्त्वज्ञा यथाश्रुतिनिदर्शनात्‌

Transliteration

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

Translation

अशा प्रतिबोध व प्रतिबिंबाच्या कारणाने तिला ‘प्रधान’ असे म्हणतात. सांख्य व योगाचे तत्त्वज्ञ, श्रुतीतील संकेतांनुसार, सांगतात— जसे पाण्यात चंद्राचे प्रतिबिंब दिसते, तसेच चेतन जीवात्म्याचा ज्ञानप्रकाश प्रकृतीत प्रतिबिंबित झाल्यासारखा भासतो; आणि या प्रतिबिंबित बोधामुळेच प्रकृतीला ‘प्रधान’ म्हणतात.

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.