Shloka 29
Utkramaṇa-sthāna and Ariṣṭa-lakṣaṇa: Yājñavalkya’s Instruction on Departure Pathways and Mortality Signs
आत्मा तो जन्म-मृत्युसे रहित, अनन्त, सबका द्रष्टा और निर्विकार है। वह सत्त्व आदि गुणोंमें केवल अभिमान करनेके कारण ही गुणस्वरूप कहलाता है ।।
ātmā tu janma-mṛtyu-rahitaḥ, anantaḥ, sarvasya draṣṭā ca nirvikāraḥ. sa sattvādi-guṇeṣu kevalam abhimāna-kāraṇād eva guṇa-svarūpa iti kathyate. guṇā guṇavataḥ santi, nirguṇasya kuto guṇāḥ. tasmād evaṃ vijānanti ye janā guṇa-darśinaḥ: yadā jīvātmā etān guṇān prakṛteḥ kāryam iti matvā teṣu ātmīyatvābhimānaṃ tyajati, tadā sa dehādiṣu ātma-buddhiṃ parityajya sva-viśuddha-paramātma-svarūpasya sākṣātkāraṃ karoti.
婆悉吒说道：“我离生离死，无量无边，为一切之见证，不变不坏。之所以被称为‘具诸德（guṇa）之性’，唯因误将自身与萨埵（sattva）等诸德相认同。德只属于有德者；无德（nirguṇa）之我，何来诸德？故真正洞见诸德者立此定论：当个体之我知诸德乃普拉克里蒂（Prakṛti）之所作，遂舍弃对其‘我’与‘我所’之执著时，便弃除以身等为我的妄见，而证得自身清净之本性，即至上之我。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Self is intrinsically nirguṇa (beyond qualities) and changeless; guṇas pertain to Prakṛti. Bondage arises from abhimāna—mistaken identification with sattva, rajas, tamas and with body-mind. Liberation comes by discerning the guṇas as Prakṛti’s effects, dropping possessiveness and ‘I’-notions toward them, and realizing one’s pure identity as Paramātman.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Vasiṣṭha delivers a philosophical clarification: he distinguishes the witness Self from the guṇas of nature and explains how right discernment and renunciation of identification lead the embodied being from body-centered self-notion to direct realization of the Supreme Self.