Shloka 13
ब्रह्मघोष-प्रवर्तनम्, अनध्याय-नियमः, वायु-मार्ग-वर्णनम्
Restoring Vedic Recitation, the Anadhyaya Rule, and the Taxonomy of Winds
पुरुष प्रकृतिसे भिन्न और नित्य है तथा अव्यक्त (प्रकृति) पुरुषसे भिन्न एवं अनित्य है। जैसे सींकसे मूँज अलग होती है, उसी प्रकार प्रकृति भी पुरुषसे पृथक् है ।।
puruṣaḥ prakṛteḥ bhinnaḥ nityaś ca; avyaktā (prakṛtiḥ) api puruṣāt bhinnā anityā ca. yathā śīṅkāt muñjaḥ pṛthak, tathā prakṛtir api puruṣāt pṛthak. anyac ca maśakaṃ vidyāt anyac codumbaraṃ tathā; na codumbarasaṃyogaiḥ maśakas tatra lipyate. tathā matsyaḥ anyo dravyaṃ, jalaṃ cānyat; jalasparśena matsyo na kadācana lipyate.
阎若伐迦说道：“普鲁沙（Puruṣa，觉知之我）与原质（Prakṛti）相别而常住；而未显（即原质）亦与普鲁沙相别，却非恒常。正如芒草（muñja）可与其茎分离，原质亦与普鲁沙分离。又当知：蚋虫是一物，优昙婆罗（udumbara，聚果榕）是一物；纵使同处，蚋虫亦不因仅仅相依而为其所染。亦如鱼是一物，水是一物；水之触及，鱼从不受染。是故，唯有邻近或接触，并不能使真我真实受缚，或为物质自然所污。”
याज़्वल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches viveka (discriminative knowledge): the conscious Self (Puruṣa) is essentially distinct from material nature (Prakṛti/Avyakta). Because bondage is only due to association (saṃyoga) and misidentification, the Self is not truly tainted by the body-mind or by contact with the world—just as a gnat is not ‘smeared’ by the fig it inhabits, and a fish is not stained by water.
In the Śānti Parva’s mokṣa-oriented instruction, the sage Yājñavalkya is expounding metaphysical doctrine to clarify how liberation is possible. He uses everyday similes (muñja from its stalk; gnat and udumbara; fish and water) to show that proximity does not imply identity, reinforcing detachment and the understanding that the Self remains untouched.