Shloka 326
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
आत्मरूपगुणानेतान् विविधान् हृदयप्रियान् । इस प्रकार प्रकृतिसे संयुक्त हुआ पुरुष तत्त्वज्ञान होनेसे पहले मनको प्रिय लगनेवाले नाना प्रकारके अपने व्यापारोंको क्रीड़ाके लिये बार-बार करता और उन्हें अपना कर्तव्य मानता है
ātmarūpaguṇānetān vividhān hṛdayapriyān |
Wika ni Vasiṣṭha: “Ang mga katangiang ito na sari-sari, na nag-aanyong ‘sarili’ at kaaya-aya sa puso—bago sumilang ang tunay na kaalaman, ang Puruṣa na nakaugnay sa Prakṛti ay paulit-ulit na gumagawa ng maraming gawain na kinagigiliwan ng isip na wari’y paglalaro, at itinuturing ang mga iyon bilang sariling tungkulin.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Before discriminative knowledge (tattvajñāna) arises, consciousness (puruṣa) identifies with nature’s qualities (guṇas) as ‘I’ and ‘mine’. Because these feel pleasant to the heart, one repeats actions for enjoyment and mistakenly treats them as true duty; wisdom begins by seeing this as conditioned habit rather than dharma grounded in truth.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing about the psychology of bondage: the self, entangled with prakṛti, cycles through attractive activities like a game. The verse frames ordinary action as repetition driven by liking, prior to awakening into reality-knowledge that separates the seer (puruṣa) from the seen (guṇas).