Shloka 39
अव्यक्त–पुरुष–विवेकः (Discrimination of Avyakta/Prakṛti and Puruṣa) — Yājñavalkya’s Anvīkṣikī to Viśvāvasu
अन्यदेव च क्षेत्र स्थादन्य: क्षेत्रज्ञ उच्यते । क्षेत्रमव्यक्तमित्युक्त ज्ञाता वै पजचविंशक:
anyad eva ca kṣetraṃ syād anyaḥ kṣetrajña ucyate | kṣetram avyaktam ity uktaṃ jñātā vai pañcaviṃśakaḥ ||
ਵਸਿਸ਼ਠ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ— ‘ਖੇਤਰ’ ਨਿਸਚਿਤ ਹੀ ਇਕ ਵਸਤੂ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ‘ਖੇਤਰਜ੍ਞ’ ਉਸ ਤੋਂ ਭਿੰਨ ਕਿਹਾ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ। ਖੇਤਰ ਨੂੰ ‘ਅਵ੍ਯਕਤ’ ਆਖਿਆ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ; ਅਤੇ ਉਸ ਦਾ ਜ੍ਞਾਤਾ ਪੱਚੀਵਾਂ ਤੱਤ—ਆਤਮਾ—ਹੀ ਹੈ, ਜੋ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਯਥਾਰਥ ਜਾਣਦਾ ਹੈ।
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
It teaches viveka (discrimination) between the unmanifest ‘field’ (kṣetra—prakṛti/body-mind and its subtle basis) and the conscious ‘knower of the field’ (kṣetrajña). The knower is identified as the twenty-fifth principle, the ātman/puruṣa, distinct from the 24 constituents of prakṛti.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vasiṣṭha is explaining a Sāṅkhya-style framework: reality is analyzed into the experienced domain (kṣetra, described as avyaktā) and the experiencer (kṣetrajña), emphasizing their separateness to guide the listener toward self-knowledge and liberation.