Shloka 12

जनक–सुलभा संवादः

Janaka–Sulabhā Dialogue on Mokṣa and Non-attachment

Devanagari script

निर्गुण: प्रकृतिं वेद गुणयुक्तामचेतनाम्‌ | ततः केवलधर्मासौ भवत्यव्यक्तदर्शनात्‌

Transliteration

nirguṇaḥ prakṛtiṁ veda guṇayuktām acetanām | tataḥ kevaladharmāsau bhavaty avyaktadarśanāt ||

Translation

婆悉吒说道：超越诸“德性”（guṇa）者，便能了知由诸德性所成的原质（Prakṛti）其实无知无觉。继而凭借对“不显”（Unmanifest）的观照，他安住于“独存之法”（kaivalya）：见原质与自性全然不二，遂得解脱。

Word by Word

• निर्गुणः: free from (the) guṇas
• निर्गुणः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्गुण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्रकृतिम्: Prakṛti, nature
• प्रकृतिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रकृति
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• वेद: knows
• Type: Verb
• Root: विद्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• गुणयुक्ताम्: endowed with guṇas
• गुणयुक्ताम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गुणयुक्त
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• अचेतनाम्: insentient, unconscious
• अचेतनाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अचेतन
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• ततः: thereupon, then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• केवलधर्मा: having only (pure) dharma; solely characterized (by the self)
• केवलधर्मा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: केवलधर्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• असौ: he, that one
• असौ: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: असौ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• भवति: becomes
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• अव्यक्तदर्शनात्: from (the) seeing/realization of the unmanifest
• अव्यक्तदर्शनात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अव्यक्तदर्शन
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वसिष्ठ (Vasiṣṭha)
• प्रकृति (Prakṛti)
• अव्यक्त (Avyakta)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Liberation arises when one transcends the guṇas and correctly discerns Prakṛti as insentient; through insight into the Unmanifest, one abides in kaivalya—freedom rooted in non-identification with material nature.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha is instructing on a Sāṅkhya-style path to mokṣa: the seeker shifts from identifying with guṇa-bound nature to realizing the unmanifest ground and thereby attains the liberative state called kaivalya.