Shloka 31
अध्यात्म-तत्त्व-निर्णयः
Adhyātma Taxonomy: Elements, Faculties, and Guṇas
अक्षरं च क्षरं चैव द्वैधीभावो5यमात्मन: । क्षर: सर्वेषु भूतेषु दिव्यं तमृतमक्षरम्
akṣaraṃ ca kṣaraṃ caiva dvaidhībhāvo ’yam ātmanaḥ | kṣaraḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu divyaṃ tad amṛtam akṣaram ||
毗耶娑解释：自我被以两种方式言说——可坏与不坏。在一切众生中，它显现为可坏者，受变易与毁散所制；然而内在那神圣不死的真实，则是不坏者，是不朽不腐的恒常真理。此教导引人分辨有身之生的暂变，与奠定伦理坚稳与内在自由的永恒原则。
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches discernment between two aspects attributed to the Self: the perishable manifestation seen in embodied existence and the imperishable, deathless reality that is divine and unchanging. Ethical steadiness arises from anchoring one’s identity in the imperishable rather than the transient.
In the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa is presenting a philosophical clarification to guide the listener toward peace: he frames the Self in a twofold description—mutable in its worldly appearance across beings, yet truly immortal and imperishable in its essential nature.