Shloka 19
Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda
Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped
क्षरो भवत्येष यदा तदा गुणवतीमथ । प्रकृतिं त्वभिजानाति निर्गुणत्वं तथा55त्मन:
kṣaro bhavaty eṣa yadā tadā guṇavatīm atha | prakṛtiṁ tv abhijānāti nirguṇatvaṁ tathātmanaḥ ||
ਜਦੋਂ ਇਹ ਪੁਰੁਸ਼ ‘ਛਰ’ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ—ਅਰਥਾਤ ਪਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਵਿੱਚ ਲੀਨ ਹੋ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ—ਤਦ ਉਹ ਪ੍ਰਕ੍ਰਿਤੀ ਨੂੰ ਸਗੁਣ ਰੂਪ ਵਿੱਚ ਯਥਾਰਥ ਜਾਣ ਲੈਂਦਾ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਆਪਣੇ ਆਤਮ-ਸਰੂਪ ਨੂੰ ਸੱਚਮੁੱਚ ਨਿਰਗੁਣ ਵੀ ਸਮਝ ਲੈਂਦਾ ਹੈ।
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Right discernment (viveka): prakṛti is inherently guṇa-made (saguṇa), while the true Self is nirguṇa. Liberation is described as merging into the Supreme, where this distinction becomes directly known.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing on liberation and metaphysical discrimination: as the individual’s identity with change falls away and he becomes absorbed in the Supreme, he recognizes the guṇas as belonging to prakṛti and realizes the Self’s qualityless nature.