Shloka 8

Utkramaṇa-sthāna and Ariṣṭa-lakṣaṇa: Yājñavalkya’s Instruction on Departure Pathways and Mortality Signs

Devanagari script

अन्योन्यगुणसंरोधादन्योन्यगुणसंश्रयात्‌ । एवमेवाभिसम्बद्धौ नित्यं प्रकृतिपूरुषी

Transliteration

anyonyaguṇasaṃrodhād anyonyaguṇasaṃśrayāt | evam evābhisambaddhau nityaṃ prakṛtipūruṣī ||

Translation

阇那迦王说道：“由于彼此的德性相互制约、相互约束，又由于彼此的德性相互依凭，因此，普拉克里蒂（自然）与普鲁沙（觉知之我）便在相互关联中永恒相系。”

Word by Word

• अन्योन्यगुणसंरोधात्: from the mutual obstruction of qualities
• अन्योन्यगुणसंरोधात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्योन्य-गुण-संरोध
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Singular

• अन्योन्यगुणसंश्रयात्: from the mutual dependence/support of qualities
• अन्योन्यगुणसंश्रयात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्योन्य-गुण-संश्रय
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Singular

• एवम्: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम्

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• अभिसम्बद्धौ: closely connected (the two)
• अभिसम्बद्धौ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अभि-सम्-बद्ध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• नित्यम्: always
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नित्य

• प्रकृतिपूरुषी: Prakriti and Purusha (the two)
• प्रकृतिपूरुषी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रकृति-पुरुष
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

Speaker

जनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• जनक (Janaka)
• प्रकृति (Prakṛti)
• पुरुष (Puruṣa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Prakṛti (the guṇa-made field of nature) and Puruṣa (consciousness) function in an inseparable linkage: each is understood in relation to the other, with mutual dependence and mutual constraint. This frames bondage as arising from their conjunction and points toward liberation through discerning their distinctness.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, King Janaka speaks as a teacher, explaining a Sāṅkhya-style account of how Nature and the Self remain perpetually conjoined in worldly experience due to reciprocal reliance of their qualities.