Shloka 17
नारद–शुक संवादः (Nārada–Śuka Dialogue): Tyāga, Saṃyama, and Vyakta–Avyakta Viveka
तस्थुषं पुरुष नित्यमभेद्यमजरामरम् । शाश्वृतं चाव्ययं चैव ईशान ब्रह्म चाव्ययम्
tasthuṣaṁ puruṣa nityam abhedyam ajarāmaram | śāśvataṁ cāvyayaṁ caiva īśānaṁ brahma cāvyayam ||
阎若伐迦说道：“那至上之人（Purusha）恒常安立——不可分割，不坏不朽，不老不死；常住而不灭。他即主宰（Īśāna），即是不朽的梵（Brahman）本身。”
याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts the ultimate reality as the Supreme Person/Brahman: eternally established, indivisible, beyond decay and death, and therefore not subject to the changes that govern embodied life. Ethically, it grounds detachment and steadiness by pointing to an unchanging spiritual foundation.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and higher knowledge, the sage Yājñavalkya is presenting a doctrinal description of the supreme principle—identifying the Lord (Īśāna) with imperishable Brahman—within a teaching dialogue aimed at clarifying the nature of the Self and ultimate reality.