Shloka 15
Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda
Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped
यदा तु गुणजालं तदव्यक्तात्मनि संक्षिपेत् । तदा सह गुणैस्तैस्तु पजचविंशो विलीयते
yadā tu guṇajālaṃ tadavyaktātmani saṃkṣipet | tadā saha guṇais tais tu pañcaviṃśo vilīyate ||
Wika ni Vasiṣṭha: “Kapag ang isang yogin, sa kapangyarihan ng yoga, ay iniuurong ang buong sapot ng mga guṇa at ibinabalik itong matunaw sa di-nahahalatang Sarili—ang unang likas na di-nahahalatang kalikasan—kung gayon, kasabay ng pagkalusaw ng mga guṇa, ang ika-dalawampu’t limang prinsipyo, ang Puruṣa, ay nalulusaw rin sa Kataas-taasang Sarili. Sa ganitong pananaw, maging ang Puruṣa ay maaaring tawaging ‘kṣara’, nasisira, sapagkat inilalarawan siyang natutunaw sa pinakamataas na realidad.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberation is described as a reversal of manifestation: the yogin withdraws the guṇas and their effects back into the unmanifest source (avyakta). With the guṇas dissolved, even the Sāṃkhya ‘twenty-fifth’ principle (Puruṣa) is spoken of as merging into the Supreme Self—highlighting a perspective in which all enumerated principles are transcended in the highest realization.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation, Vasiṣṭha explains a yogic process of dissolution (laya): the manifested qualities (guṇas) are reabsorbed into the unmanifest root, and with that reabsorption the individual conscious principle (Puruṣa, as counted among tattvas) is said to merge into the supreme reality.