Shloka 20
Jarā-Mṛtyu-anatikrama: Janaka–Pañcaśikha-saṃvāda
Aging and Death Cannot Be Overstepped
तदा विशुद्धों भवति प्रकृते: परिवर्जनात् । अन्यो5हमन्येयमिति यदा बुध्यति बुद्धिमान्
tadā viśuddho bhavati prakṛteḥ parivarjanāt | anyo 'ham anyeyam iti yadā budhyati buddhimān |
“于是，人得以清净，因为他已舍离对原质（Prakṛti，物质自然）的认同。智者若真切了知：‘我为他者，此原质与我不同’，便安住于自身清净本性之中——不再夹杂物质条件的染污。其教旨在于内在辨别：当自我不再把自然中变易的成分误作真实的‘我’，解脱便由此开始。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches viveka (discriminative knowledge): realizing that the true self (ātman/puruṣa) is distinct from Prakṛti. When one abandons identification with Prakṛti’s qualities and changes, one becomes ‘viśuddha’—established in one’s pure nature.
Vasiṣṭha is instructing on liberation-oriented wisdom in the Śānti Parva’s reflective discourse. He explains the inner shift by which a wise person separates the sense of ‘I’ from material nature, leading to purification and abiding in the self.