Shloka 15
Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda
Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped
यदा तु गुणजालं तदव्यक्तात्मनि संक्षिपेत् । तदा सह गुणैस्तैस्तु पजचविंशो विलीयते
yadā tu guṇajālaṃ tadavyaktātmani saṃkṣipet | tadā saha guṇais tais tu pañcaviṃśo vilīyate ||
瓦西什塔说道：“当瑜伽行者以瑜伽之力收摄诸德（guṇa）之网，使之归并融入不显之自性——原初的不显自然——之时，随着诸德的消融，第二十五原理——灵我（Puruṣa）——亦复融入至上之我。由此观点而言，连那灵我也可称为‘可坏’（kṣara），因为经文说它在最高实在中归于消融。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberation is described as a reversal of manifestation: the yogin withdraws the guṇas and their effects back into the unmanifest source (avyakta). With the guṇas dissolved, even the Sāṃkhya ‘twenty-fifth’ principle (Puruṣa) is spoken of as merging into the Supreme Self—highlighting a perspective in which all enumerated principles are transcended in the highest realization.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation, Vasiṣṭha explains a yogic process of dissolution (laya): the manifested qualities (guṇas) are reabsorbed into the unmanifest root, and with that reabsorption the individual conscious principle (Puruṣa, as counted among tattvas) is said to merge into the supreme reality.