Shloka 29
Utkramaṇa-sthāna and Ariṣṭa-lakṣaṇa: Yājñavalkya’s Instruction on Departure Pathways and Mortality Signs
आत्मा तो जन्म-मृत्युसे रहित, अनन्त, सबका द्रष्टा और निर्विकार है। वह सत्त्व आदि गुणोंमें केवल अभिमान करनेके कारण ही गुणस्वरूप कहलाता है ।।
ātmā tu janma-mṛtyu-rahitaḥ, anantaḥ, sarvasya draṣṭā ca nirvikāraḥ. sa sattvādi-guṇeṣu kevalam abhimāna-kāraṇād eva guṇa-svarūpa iti kathyate. guṇā guṇavataḥ santi, nirguṇasya kuto guṇāḥ. tasmād evaṃ vijānanti ye janā guṇa-darśinaḥ: yadā jīvātmā etān guṇān prakṛteḥ kāryam iti matvā teṣu ātmīyatvābhimānaṃ tyajati, tadā sa dehādiṣu ātma-buddhiṃ parityajya sva-viśuddha-paramātma-svarūpasya sākṣātkāraṃ karoti.
Wika ni Vasiṣṭha: “Ang Sarili ay malaya sa kapanganakan at kamatayan, walang hanggan, saksi ng lahat, at di-nagbabago. Tinatawag lamang itong ‘may likas na guṇa’ dahil sa maling pagkapit nito sa sattva at iba pang katangian. Ang mga katangian ay nasa may-katangian lamang; paano magkakaroon ng katangian ang walang-katangian? Kaya ito ang pasya ng mga tunay na nakakakita sa guṇa: kapag naunawaan ng indibidwal na sarili na ang mga guṇa ay mga bunga ng Prakṛti at iniwan ang pag-aangking ‘akin’ sa mga ito, iniiwan nito ang maling paniwalang ang katawan at iba pa ang Sarili, at natatanto ang sariling dalisay na pagkakakilanlan bilang Kataas-taasang Sarili.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Self is intrinsically nirguṇa (beyond qualities) and changeless; guṇas pertain to Prakṛti. Bondage arises from abhimāna—mistaken identification with sattva, rajas, tamas and with body-mind. Liberation comes by discerning the guṇas as Prakṛti’s effects, dropping possessiveness and ‘I’-notions toward them, and realizing one’s pure identity as Paramātman.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Vasiṣṭha delivers a philosophical clarification: he distinguishes the witness Self from the guṇas of nature and explains how right discernment and renunciation of identification lead the embodied being from body-centered self-notion to direct realization of the Supreme Self.