Shloka 4
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
कोशकारो यथा<55त्मानं कीट: समवरुन्धति । सूत्रतन्तुगुणर्नित्यं तथायमगुणो गुणौ:
kośakāro yathātmānaṁ kīṭaḥ samavarundhati | sūtratantuguṇair nityaṁ tathāyam aguṇo guṇaiḥ ||
瓦西什塔说道：正如蚕以自己吐出的丝缕将自身四面包裹、缠缚起来，同样，这个自我（真我）——虽在真实中超越一切性质——却会被它自身所显现的诸“古那”（guṇa，物质自然的诸种样态）所系缚。此教诲指向道德上的警醒：束缚并非只从外而来，更是由自身的习气与认同所织就；而解脱始于洞见诸古那并非真我。
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bondage is self-woven: the Self is intrinsically attributeless (aguṇa), yet through identification with the guṇas of prakṛti—habits, emotions, and mental dispositions it helps manifest—it experiences confinement. Discriminative knowledge (viveka) loosens this identification and points toward liberation.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation, Vasiṣṭha uses a vivid analogy: like a silkworm trapped in its own cocoon, the embodied being becomes trapped by its own produced guṇas. The verse functions as a didactic image within a larger discourse on how saṁsāra arises and how it can be transcended.