Shloka 5
जनक–सुलभा संवादः
Janaka–Sulabhā Dialogue on Mokṣa and Non-attachment
बुध्यते यदि वाव्यक्तमेतद् वै पजचविंशकम् । बुध्यमानो भवत्येव सज्भात्मक इति श्रुति: । अनेनाप्रतिबुद्धेति वदन्त्यव्यक्तमच्युतम्
budhyate yadi vāvyaktam etad vai pañcaviṁśakam | budhyamāno bhavaty eva saṅghātmaka iti śrutiḥ | anenāpratibuddheti vadanty avyaktam acyutam |
婆悉吒说道：若有人设想普拉克里蒂（未显，avyakta）也能“知”，那么这种“知”唯有借由第二十五原理——与之相合的普鲁沙（Puruṣa）——方才可能。由于与普拉克里蒂相系，个体之我便成了“聚合之性”（saṅghātmaka），与诸蕴聚相缠；《圣闻》（Śruti）如是宣说。也正因这相系之过，人们便把那未显而不变的自性称作“未觉”或“迷妄”，然而它实则恒常不变。
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cognition and agency are wrongly attributed to Prakṛti; in Sāṅkhya terms, ‘knowing’ pertains to Puruṣa (the 25th principle). The jīva appears bound and ‘deluded’ only due to association (saṅga) with Prakṛti and its aggregates; the Self itself remains unchanging.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vasiṣṭha clarifies a subtle point about consciousness: if the unmanifest Prakṛti is said to ‘know’, that knowing is actually the reflected/associated knowing of Puruṣa. He explains how misidentification through association leads people to label the immutable Self as ignorant.