Shloka 40
अव्यक्त–पुरुष–विवेकः (Discrimination of Avyakta/Prakṛti and Puruṣa) — Yājñavalkya’s Anvīkṣikī to Viśvāvasu
अन्यदेव च ज्ञानं स्यादन्यज्ज्ञेयं तदुच्यते ज्ञानमव्यक्तमित्युक्त ज्ञेयो वै पजचविंशक:,ज्ञान अन्य वस्तु है और ज्ञेय उससे भिन्न कहा जाता है। ज्ञान- अव्यक्त कहा गया है और ज्ञेय पचीसवाँ तत्त्व आत्मा है
anyad eva ca jñānaṃ syād anyaj jñeyaṃ tad ucyate | jñānam avyaktam ity uktaṃ jñeyo vai pañcaviṃśakaḥ ||
婆悉吒说道：“知识与所知被说为各不相同。‘知识’被称为未显（avyakta），而‘所知’则是第二十五原理——即真我（Ātman）。因此，当辨明认识之具与终极应证之实在的差别。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a clear distinction between jñāna (knowledge/the principle of knowing) and jñeya (the ultimate object to be realized). It identifies ‘knowledge’ with the unmanifest (avyakta) and the ‘knowable’ with the twenty-fifth principle—Ātman/Puruṣa—emphasizing discriminative insight as a basis for liberation-oriented understanding.
In the Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vasiṣṭha is expounding a Sāṅkhya-style analysis of reality. He classifies principles (tattvas) and clarifies how the seeker should understand the relation between the means of knowing and the supreme Self as the final object of realization.