Shloka 78
नारद–शुक संवादः
Impermanence, Svabhāva, and Śuka’s Resolve for Yoga
जब द्विज इस बातको समझ लेता है कि मैं अन्य हूँ और यह प्राकृत शरीर अथवा अनात्म-जगत् मुझसे सर्वथा भिन्न है, तब वह प्रकृतिके संसर्गसे रहित हो छब्बीसवें तत्त्व परमात्माका साक्षात्कार कर लेता है ।।
anyaśṣu rājann avaras tathānyaḥ pañcaviṁśakaḥ | tatsthānāc cānupaśyanti eka eveti sādhavaḥ ||
Sinabi ni Yājñavalkya: O Hari, sa gitna ng maraming prinsipyo ay may isang mas mababa, at may isa pang naiiba—na binibilang bilang ika-dalawampu’t lima. Mula sa paninindigan ng mas mataas na prinsipyong iyon, nakikita ng mga pantas na iisa lamang ang Sarili. Kapag ang isang dvija ay tunay na nakaunawa, “Ako’y iba sa bagay na ito,” at nakilala na ang likas na katawan at ang daigdig na di-sarili ay ganap na hiwalay sa kanya, siya’y napapalaya sa ugnay sa prakṛti at tuwirang natatanto ang Kataas-taasang Sarili—ang mas mataas na prinsipyo na lampas sa mga sangkap ng kalikasan.
याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Discriminative knowledge: the seeker must discern the Self (Puruṣa/Ātman, the ‘twenty-fifth principle’) as wholly distinct from body and the non-self world. With this viveka, one becomes disentangled from Prakṛti and attains direct realization of the supreme Self, understood as one and the same in all.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation, the sage Yājñavalkya addresses a king and explains a Sāṅkhya-like hierarchy of principles: a lower set associated with nature and a higher, distinct principle (the 25th). He states that the wise, standing in that higher standpoint, perceive the oneness of the Self and thereby move toward liberation.