Shloka 42
अव्यक्त–पुरुष–विवेकः (Discrimination of Avyakta/Prakṛti and Puruṣa) — Yājñavalkya’s Anvīkṣikī to Viśvāvasu
अव्यक्तको क्षेत्र कहा गया है। उसीको सत्त्व (बुद्धि) और शासककी भी संज्ञा दी गयी है; परंतु पचीसवाँ तत्त्व परमपुरुष परमात्मा जड तत्त्व और ईश्वरसे रहित भिन्न है ।।
avyaktakaḥ kṣetraḥ kathitaḥ; sa eva sattva-buddhi-śāsaka-saṃjñitaḥ. pañcaviṃśas tu tattvaḥ paramapuruṣaḥ paramātmā jaḍa-tattvāt īśvararahitāt pṛthag bhinnaḥ. sāṅkhyadarśanam etāvat pari-saṅkhyānudārśanam; sāṅkhyāḥ prakurvante caiva prakṛtiṃ ca pracakṣate.
婆悉吒说道：“未显（avyakta）被宣说为‘田’（kṣetra）。同一原理也被称为萨埵（sattva）——即能辨别的智（buddhi）——亦被称为内在的统御者。然而第二十五原理——至上之人（Paramapuruṣa）、至上之我（Paramātman）——卓然独立：不同于无知觉的物质，亦不可被贬为无主的物质本原。此即数论（Sāṅkhya）之见：以枚举而作分析；数论家陈列诸范畴，并称根本源为自性（Prakṛti）。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a Sāṅkhya-style analysis: the unmanifest (avyakta) is treated as the ‘field’ of experience and is associated with intellect and inner governance, but the twenty-fifth principle—the Supreme Self/Puruṣa—is distinct from inert matter and should not be collapsed into a purely material, Īśvara-less account. Liberation-oriented discernment depends on separating the Self from Prakṛti.
In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, Vasiṣṭha instructs by summarizing Sāṅkhya categories and clarifying the distinction between Prakṛti (the source of material principles) and the transcendent Self (Paramātmā/Paramapuruṣa), emphasizing correct metaphysical discrimination as part of spiritual instruction.