Shloka 42
नारद–शुक संवादः
Impermanence, Svabhāva, and Śuka’s Resolve for Yoga
(सूर्यमव्यक्तमित्युक्तमतिसूर्यस्तु निष्कल: । अविद्या प्रकृतिज्ञेया विद्या पुरुष उच्यते ।।
yājñavalkya uvāca |
(sūryam avyaktam ity uktam ati-sūryas tu niṣkalaḥ |
avidyā prakṛtir jñeyā vidyā puruṣa ucyate ||)
tathaivāvedyam avyaktam vedyaḥ puruṣa ucyate |
calācalam iti proktaṃ tvayā vā tad api me śṛṇu ||
Wika ni Yājñavalkya: “Ang di-nahahayag na simulain ay tinatawag na ‘araw’; ngunit ang walang-bahagi at walang-katangian na katotohanan ay tinatawag na ‘lampas-sa-araw’. Kilalanin ang Prakṛti bilang avidyā (kamangmangan), at ang Puruṣa bilang vidyā (kaalaman). Gayon din, ang di-nahahayag ay sinasabing ‘di-makikilala’, samantalang ang Puruṣa ay tinatawag na ‘makikilala’. At tungkol sa iyong tanong—ang gumagalaw at ang di-gumagalaw—makinig ka ngayon sa sagot.”
याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes two principles: Prakṛti, identified with avidyā (ignorance) and the unmanifest basis of change, and Puruṣa, identified with vidyā (knowledge) as the knowable conscious reality. It uses metaphors (‘sun’ and ‘beyond-sun’) to indicate levels of subtlety and transcendence, pointing toward liberation through right discernment.
In the Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Yājñavalkya answers a questioner by defining key metaphysical categories—unmanifest nature and conscious self—and then signals that he will proceed to explain the distinction between the moving and the unmoving.