Shloka 48
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
स लिड्जान्तरमासाद्य प्राकृतं लिड्रमव्रण: । व्रणद्वाराण्यधिष्ठाय कर्मण्यात्मनि मन्यते
sa liṅgāntaram āsādya prākṛtaṁ liṅgam avraṇaḥ | vraṇadvārāṇy adhiṣṭhāya karmaṇy ātmani manyate ||
Wika ni Vasiṣṭha: “Bagaman ang Puruṣa (Sarili) ay walang bitak o kapintasan, nakakamit nito ang isa pang ‘tanda’: isang katawang hinubog ng Prakṛti. Bilang tagapangasiwa ng mga pandama na nananahan sa mga ‘pintuan’ ng katawan, inaakala nitong ang mga kilos ng mga pandamang iyon ay kanya. Kaya, sa pagkapit ng pagkakakilanlan sa mga kasangkapan ng kalikasan, ang walang-dungis na Sarili ay nagmumukhang tagagawa at tagaranas.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the pure Self (Puruṣa) is intrinsically untouched and non-agent, yet by assuming an embodied identity produced by Prakṛti and presiding over the sense-gates, it mistakenly appropriates the senses’ actions as ‘mine.’ Liberation requires seeing actions as belonging to Prakṛti’s instruments, not to the Self.
In Vasiṣṭha’s instruction within Śānti Parva’s mokṣa-oriented discourse, he explains how bondage arises: the Self associates with a Prakṛti-made body and, through identification with the senses operating via bodily openings, comes to believe it is the doer of their activities.