Shloka 49
Adhyāya 302: Guṇa-vicāra, Gati-bheda, and the Imperishable State
Yājñavalkya–Janaka
एवमव्यक्तविषयं क्षरमाहुर्मनीषिण: । पज्चविंशतिमो यो<यं ज्ञानादेव प्रवर्तते
evam avyaktaviṣayaṁ kṣaram āhur manīṣiṇaḥ | pañcaviṁśatimo yo 'yaṁ jñānād eva pravartate ||
婆悉吒（Vasiṣṭha）说道：“因此，智者称一切以未显（prakṛti，原质）为境域与依止者为‘可坏’（kṣara）。然而那与二十四种演化之法迥然有别的第二十五原理——至上之人（Puruṣa）、最高之我——则为‘不坏’（akṣara）。唯有凭真实之智（jñāna）方能证达彼。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
All phenomena grounded in the Unmanifest (prakṛti) are ‘kṣara’—perishable and changing. Beyond the twenty-four principles stands the twenty-fifth, the Supreme Self (Paramapuruṣa/Paramātman), called ‘akṣara’—imperishable. Realization of this imperishable principle is attained only through jñāna (discriminative knowledge).
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation and right understanding, Vasiṣṭha explains a Sāṅkhya-style distinction between the perishable field of prakṛti and its evolutes versus the imperishable supreme Self, emphasizing knowledge as the means to attain the highest reality.