Shloka 28
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
अज्ञानवश वह अपनेमें सत्त्व, रज, तम-इन त्रिविध गुणों और धर्म, अर्थ एवं कामका अभिमान कर लेता है ।। प्रकृत्या55त्मानमेवात्मा एवं प्रविभजत्युत । स्वधाकारवषट्कारौ स्वाहाकारनमस्क्रिया:
ajñānavaśaḥ sa ātmany eva sattva-rajas-tamaḥ—iti trividha-guṇānāṃ ca dharma-artha-kāmānāṃ cābhimānaṃ karoti || prakṛtyā ātmānam evātmā evaṃ pravibhajaty uta | svadhākāra-vaṣaṭkārau svāhākāra-namaskriyāḥ ||
瓦西什塔说道：“由于无明，人把三种古那——萨埵、罗阇、惰性——强加于真我之上，又把法（dharma）、财富与利益（artha）、欲乐（kāma）当作‘我的’。于是，在自然性（prakṛti）的驱使下，自我便自分自名，种种分别：或与祭仪之词如 svadhā、vaṣaṭ 相认，或与行为如呼号 svāhā、行礼致敬相认，误将这些受条件制约的角色与作为当作真实的自性。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that ignorance makes one falsely identify the Self with nature’s guṇas and with life-goals (dharma, artha, kāma), and even with ritual roles and formulae. This egoic ‘I’ and ‘mine’ is a superimposition; liberation requires discerning the Self as distinct from prakṛti and its conditioned activities.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing about the inner cause of bondage: the mind, under prakṛti and ajñāna, fragments identity into many labels—ethical, economic, sensual, and ritual—thereby obscuring the true Self. The passage functions as a philosophical admonition within Śānti Parva’s teachings on peace and liberation.