Shloka 28

अव्यक्त–पुरुष–विवेकः (Discrimination of Avyakta/Prakṛti and Puruṣa) — Yājñavalkya’s Anvīkṣikī to Viśvāvasu

Devanagari script

अहड्कारस्तु महतस्तृतीयमिति न: श्रुतम्‌ पज्चभूतान्यहड्कारादाहु: सांख्यात्मदर्शिन:

Transliteration

ahaṅkāras tu mahatas tṛtīyam iti naḥ śrutam | pañcabhūtāny ahaṅkārād āhuḥ sāṅkhyātma-darśinaḥ ||

Translation

婆悉吒说道：“我们听闻：由大（Mahat）生起我慢（Ahaṅkāra），为第三原理。由我慢，数论诸见者——能辨识真我者——宣说五种元素原理（诸大之微细根基，即五唯）。此教之伦理要旨在于：系缚始于‘我’之感凝结成形；辨别智（viveka）以见其为所生之原理、非真实之我，从而松解其执缚。”

Word by Word

• {'ahaṅkāraḥ': 'ego-principle

• the ‘I-maker’ that appropriates experience as ‘mine’', 'tu': 'but

• indeed (contrast/emphasis)', 'mahataḥ': 'from Mahat

• from the Great Principle (cosmic intellect)', 'tṛtīyam': 'the third (principle/tattva)', 'iti': 'thus

• as (a quotation marker)', 'naḥ': 'for us

• by us', 'śrutam': 'heard

• received by tradition', 'pañca': 'five', 'bhūtāni': 'elements/elemental principles (often referring to subtle elemental bases in Sāṅkhya context)', 'ahaṅkārāt': 'from ahaṅkāra (ablative: ‘from’)', 'āhuḥ': 'they say

• they declare', 'sāṅkhya-ātma-darśinaḥ': 'Sāṅkhya seers who perceive the Self

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vasiṣṭha
• Mahat (महत्तत्त्व)
• Ahaṅkāra (अहङ्कार)
• Sāṅkhya seers (सांख्यात्मदर्शिनः)
• Five elemental principles (पञ्चभूतानि / पञ्चतन्मात्रा)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse states a Sāṅkhya-style sequence of principles: from Mahat arises Ahaṅkāra as the third tattva, and from Ahaṅkāra arise the five elemental principles (understood in many traditions as the subtle elemental bases). The implied spiritual lesson is that the ego-sense is a derivative principle; recognizing it as produced and not the true Self supports detachment and liberation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, Vasiṣṭha is instructing his listener by presenting a philosophical account of creation and inner bondage. He cites what is ‘heard’ in tradition and what Sāṅkhya seers declare, using cosmology to frame the origin of ego and the constituents of experience.