Shloka 22
Adhyāya 302: Guṇa-vicāra, Gati-bheda, and the Imperishable State
Yājñavalkya–Janaka
अव्यक्ताद् व्यक्तमापन्नं विद्यासर्ग वदन्ति तम् । महान्तं चाप्यहड़कारमविद्यासर्गमेव च,इनमें निराकारसे साकार रूपमें प्रकट होनेवाली मूल प्रकृतिको तो विद्यासर्ग कहते हैं और महत्तत्त्व एवं अहंकारको अविद्यासर्ग कहते हैं
avyaktād vyaktam āpannaṃ vidyāsargaṃ vadanti tam | mahāntaṃ cāpy ahaṅkāram avidyāsargam eva ca ||
Vasiṣṭha berkata: “Penzahiran yang bergerak daripada Yang Tidak Termanifest kepada yang termanifest disebut ‘vidyā-sarga’—penciptaan pengetahuan. Tetapi kemunculan Mahat (prinsip agung) dan Ahaṅkāra (prinsip ego) sesungguhnya disebut ‘avidyā-sarga’—penciptaan kejahilan.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes two modes of ‘creation’: the movement from the unmanifest to manifest nature is termed vidyā-sarga (aligned with discernment), while the arising of Mahat and Ahaṅkāra is termed avidyā-sarga because it supports ego-based misidentification and bondage unless rightly understood.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vasiṣṭha explains a Sāṅkhya-style account of manifestation, classifying stages of cosmic evolution and indicating which principles tend to aid knowledge and which tend to entangle beings through ego and ignorance.