Shloka 22
Adhyāya 302: Guṇa-vicāra, Gati-bheda, and the Imperishable State
Yājñavalkya–Janaka
अव्यक्ताद् व्यक्तमापन्नं विद्यासर्ग वदन्ति तम् । महान्तं चाप्यहड़कारमविद्यासर्गमेव च
avyaktād vyaktam āpannaṃ vidyāsargaṃ vadanti tam | mahāntaṃ cāpy ahaṅkāram avidyāsargam eva ca ||
ਵਸਿਸ਼ਠ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ—ਅਵ੍ਯਕਤ ਤੋਂ ਵ੍ਯਕਤ ਵੱਲ ਜੋ ਪ੍ਰਗਟਤਾ ਹੁੰਦੀ ਹੈ, ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ‘ਵਿਦਿਆ-ਸਰਗ’ ਕਿਹਾ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ। ਪਰ ‘ਮਹਤ’ ਤੱਤ ਅਤੇ ‘ਅਹੰਕਾਰ’ ਦਾ ਉਤਪੱਤ ਹੋਣਾ ‘ਅਵਿਦਿਆ-ਸਰਗ’ ਹੀ ਮੰਨਿਆ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ।
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.