Shloka 34
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
क्रियां कियापथे रक्तस्त्रिगुणां त्रिगुणाधिप: । क्रियां क्रियापथोपेतस्तथा तदिति मन्यते
kriyāṁ kriyāpathe raktaḥ triguṇāṁ triguṇādhipaḥ | kriyāṁ kriyāpathopetas tathā tad iti manyate ||
Wika ni Vasiṣṭha: Kapag ang Sarili, ang panginoon ng tatlong guṇa, ay napapako sa landas ng pagkilos, inaangkin nito ang tatluhang gawain ng Prakṛti—bagaman isinilang mula sa mga guṇa—bilang “akin.” Sa pag-aangkin ng sarili sa mga galaw ng kalikasan na ang batas ay paglikha at pagkalusaw, itinuturing nitong sariling gawa at pag-aari ang bawat bungang hinubog ng mga guṇa.
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even though the Self is said to be the ‘lord’ over the guṇas, when it becomes attached to action it mistakenly identifies Prakṛti’s guṇa-born activities as ‘mine’. The verse points to the ethical-spiritual remedy: discernment and non-appropriation (non-doership) to loosen bondage created by identification.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation-oriented dharma, Vasiṣṭha explains how bondage arises: the witnessing Self, by entering the karma-path with attachment, superimposes ownership on the workings of three-guṇa Prakṛti—whose nature is continual creation and dissolution.