Shloka 11
Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda
Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped
राजन! मैंने तुम्हारे समक्ष यथार्थरूपसे विद्यासहित अविद्याका विशेषरूपसे वर्णन किया है। अब जो क्षर और अक्षर तत्त्व कहे गये हैं; उनके विषयमें मुझसे सुनो ।।
rājan! mayā tava samakṣaṃ yathārtharūpeṇa vidyāsahitā avidyā viśeṣarūpeṇa varṇitā. idānīṃ ye kṣara-akṣara-tattve uktau, tayoḥ viṣaye mattaḥ śṛṇu. ubhāv evākṣarāv uktāv ubhāv etāv anākṣarau. kāraṇaṃ tu pravakṣyāmi yāthātathyaṃ tu jñānataḥ.
瓦西什塔说道：“大王啊，我已在你面前如实陈说知识与无明，并分别其特相。如今请听我讲：关于被称为可坏（kṣara）与不坏（akṣara）的诸原理。在数论（Sāṅkhya）之见中，本性（Prakṛti）与灵我（Puruṣa）二者皆称‘不坏’，而二者又同样被说为‘可坏’。我将依我所知，忠实而如其本然地，说明其中真实的缘由。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vasiṣṭha prepares to resolve an apparent contradiction: Sāṅkhya calls both Prakṛti and Puruṣa ‘akṣara’ (imperishable), yet they are also described as ‘kṣara’ (perishable). The teaching points to careful definition—what is ‘imperishable’ in one sense (as enduring principles) may still be ‘perishable’ in another (as involved with change, manifestation, or conditioned description).
In the Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Vasiṣṭha addresses a king and continues a philosophical discourse. Having already distinguished knowledge and ignorance, he now turns to the kṣara/akṣara doctrine and promises to explain, from his understanding, why Sāṅkhya language can apply both labels to Prakṛti and Puruṣa.