Shloka 42
अव्यक्त–पुरुष–विवेकः (Discrimination of Avyakta/Prakṛti and Puruṣa) — Yājñavalkya’s Anvīkṣikī to Viśvāvasu
अव्यक्तको क्षेत्र कहा गया है। उसीको सत्त्व (बुद्धि) और शासककी भी संज्ञा दी गयी है; परंतु पचीसवाँ तत्त्व परमपुरुष परमात्मा जड तत्त्व और ईश्वरसे रहित भिन्न है ।।
avyaktakaḥ kṣetraḥ kathitaḥ; sa eva sattva-buddhi-śāsaka-saṃjñitaḥ. pañcaviṃśas tu tattvaḥ paramapuruṣaḥ paramātmā jaḍa-tattvāt īśvararahitāt pṛthag bhinnaḥ. sāṅkhyadarśanam etāvat pari-saṅkhyānudārśanam; sāṅkhyāḥ prakurvante caiva prakṛtiṃ ca pracakṣate.
Wika ni Vasiṣṭha: “Ang di-nahahantad (avyakta) ang ipinahahayag na ‘larangan’ (kṣetra). Ang prinsipyong iyon din ay tinatawag na sattva—ang mapagpasiyang talino (buddhi)—at tinatawag ding panloob na tagapamahala. Ngunit ang ikadalawampu’t limang prinsipyo, ang Kataas-taasang Persona (Paramapuruṣa), ang Kataas-taasang Sarili (Paramātman), ay nananatiling bukod: iba sa walang-malay na bagay at hindi maaaring ibaba sa isang prinsipyong materyal na walang Panginoon. Ito ang pananaw ng Sāṅkhya—isang pagsusuri sa pamamagitan ng pagbilang: inilalatag ng mga Sāṅkhya ang mga kategorya at itinuturing na ang Prakṛti ang pangunahing pinagmulan.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a Sāṅkhya-style analysis: the unmanifest (avyakta) is treated as the ‘field’ of experience and is associated with intellect and inner governance, but the twenty-fifth principle—the Supreme Self/Puruṣa—is distinct from inert matter and should not be collapsed into a purely material, Īśvara-less account. Liberation-oriented discernment depends on separating the Self from Prakṛti.
In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, Vasiṣṭha instructs by summarizing Sāṅkhya categories and clarifying the distinction between Prakṛti (the source of material principles) and the transcendent Self (Paramātmā/Paramapuruṣa), emphasizing correct metaphysical discrimination as part of spiritual instruction.