Shloka 22
Adhyāya 302: Guṇa-vicāra, Gati-bheda, and the Imperishable State
Yājñavalkya–Janaka
अव्यक्ताद् व्यक्तमापन्नं विद्यासर्ग वदन्ति तम् । महान्तं चाप्यहड़कारमविद्यासर्गमेव च
avyaktād vyaktam āpannaṃ vidyāsargaṃ vadanti tam | mahāntaṃ cāpy ahaṅkāram avidyāsargam eva ca ||
婆悉吒说道：“由未显（avyakta）而趋于显现（vyakta）的那种显发，被称为‘明生/智生’（vidyā-sarga，知识之创生）。然而，‘大（Mahat）’这一大原则与‘我慢/我执’（Ahaṅkāra）之出现，确被称为‘无明之创生’（avidyā-sarga）。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes two modes of ‘creation’: the movement from the unmanifest to manifest nature is termed vidyā-sarga (aligned with discernment), while the arising of Mahat and Ahaṅkāra is termed avidyā-sarga because it supports ego-based misidentification and bondage unless rightly understood.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vasiṣṭha explains a Sāṅkhya-style account of manifestation, classifying stages of cosmic evolution and indicating which principles tend to aid knowledge and which tend to entangle beings through ego and ignorance.