Shloka 48
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
स लिड्जान्तरमासाद्य प्राकृतं लिड्रमव्रण: । व्रणद्वाराण्यधिष्ठाय कर्मण्यात्मनि मन्यते
sa liṅgāntaram āsādya prākṛtaṁ liṅgam avraṇaḥ | vraṇadvārāṇy adhiṣṭhāya karmaṇy ātmani manyate ||
婆悉吒说道：“补卢沙（自性）本无裂隙、无瑕疵，然却获得另一种‘标相’——由普拉克里蒂所造的、属自然的具身形态。它统摄居于身之诸孔门的诸根，遂将诸根之所作业认作己业。于是，由于与自然之器具相认同，无垢之自性便显得如同作者与受者。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the pure Self (Puruṣa) is intrinsically untouched and non-agent, yet by assuming an embodied identity produced by Prakṛti and presiding over the sense-gates, it mistakenly appropriates the senses’ actions as ‘mine.’ Liberation requires seeing actions as belonging to Prakṛti’s instruments, not to the Self.
In Vasiṣṭha’s instruction within Śānti Parva’s mokṣa-oriented discourse, he explains how bondage arises: the Self associates with a Prakṛti-made body and, through identification with the senses operating via bodily openings, comes to believe it is the doer of their activities.