Shloka 17

Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda

Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped

Devanagari script

तदा क्षरत्वं प्रकृतिर्गच्छते गुणसंश्रिता । निर्गुणत्वं च वैदेह गुणेष्वप्रतिवर्तनात्‌,विदेहराज! उस समय त्रिगुणमयी प्रकृति क्षरत्व (नाश) को प्राप्त होती है और पुरुष भी गुणोंमें प्रवृत्त न होनेके कारण निर्गुण (गुणातीत) हो जाता है

Transliteration

tadā kṣaratvaṁ prakṛtir gacchate guṇa-saṁśritā | nirguṇatvaṁ ca vaideha guṇeṣv aprativartanāt, videha-rāja |

Translation

విదేహరాజా! ఆ సమయంలో త్రిగుణాశ్రితమైన ప్రకృతి క్షయము, వికారము పొందుతుంది; కానీ పురుషుడు గుణాల వైపు తిరగక, వాటిలో ప్రవృత్తి చెందకపోవుటచేత నిర్గుణుడు (గుణాతీతుడు) అవుతాడు—ఇదే భేదము.

Word by Word

तदाthen

क्षरत्वम्perishability; destructible state

प्रकृतिःPrakriti; primordial nature

गच्छतेgoes; attains

गुणसंश्रिताresting on/associated with the guṇas

निर्गुणत्वम्quality of being without guṇas; transcendence of guṇas

चand

वैदेहO Vaideha (king of Videha)

गुणेषुin the guṇas

अप्रतिवर्तनात्because of non-engagement/non-return (i.e., not turning toward them)

विदेहराजO king of Videha

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vasiṣṭha

Vaideha (Janaka)

Videha

Prakṛti

Guṇas

Puruṣa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Prakṛti is inherently changeful and perishable because it operates through the guṇas; the Puruṣa (self) is realized as beyond the guṇas when it does not identify with or engage in guṇa-driven activity. Liberation is framed as non-involvement (asaṅga) with the guṇas.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha instructs the king of Videha (Janaka) in a Sāṅkhya-style distinction between nature (Prakṛti) and the self (Puruṣa), explaining how Prakṛti tends toward decay while the self becomes ‘nirguṇa’ through disengagement from the guṇas.