Shloka 36
Adhyāya 302: Guṇa-vicāra, Gati-bheda, and the Imperishable State
Yājñavalkya–Janaka
एतदक्षरमित्युक्तं क्षरतीदं यथा जगत् | जगन्मोहात्मकं प्राहुरव्यक्ताद् व्यक्तसंज्ञकम्
etad akṣaram ity uktaṃ kṣaratīdaṃ yathā jagat | jagan-mohātmakam prāhur avyaktād vyakta-saṃjñakam |
婆悉吒说道：“与此不同的那一实在，被称为‘不坏者’（Akṣara）。而此世间，如我们所见，终将败坏、流逝。故诸贤说此宇宙——由未显而生、名为显现——其性为迷妄；又因其衰灭，故称‘刹罗’（Kṣara），即可坏灭者。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes the Imperishable (akṣara)—the enduring, unchanging principle—from the Perishable (kṣara)—the manifest world that continually decays. It frames the phenomenal universe as arising from the unmanifest and as inherently delusive, urging discernment between what changes and what does not.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation and right understanding, Vasiṣṭha is teaching a metaphysical discrimination: the sages name the unchanging reality ‘Akṣara,’ while the manifest cosmos, produced from the unmanifest and characterized by moha, is called ‘Kṣara’ because it is subject to dissolution.