Shloka 92

अविद्याबीज-निरूपणं, योगस्वरूप-उपदेशः, मूर्तहरिधारणा-समाधि, जनकवंशीय-राजर्षिसंवादः

Devanagari script

विज्ञानं प्रापकं प्राप्ये परे ब्रह्मणि पार्थिव प्रापणीयस् तथैवात्मा प्रक्षीणाशेषभावनः

Transliteration

vijñānaṃ prāpakaṃ prāpye pare brahmaṇi pārthiva prāpaṇīyas tathaivātmā prakṣīṇāśeṣabhāvanaḥ

Translation

大王啊，若至上梵为所当证之目标，则“毗阇那”（辨别性的证知）便成为引人到达之方便；而那在至上中可证之自我，唯有当一切由想象与习气所余的倾向尽皆枯竭时，方得现证。

Word by Word

• विज्ञानम्: discriminative knowledge
• विज्ञानम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विज्ञान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनम्; अत्र प्रथमा (subject)

• प्रापकम्: that which leads (to attainment)
• प्रापकम्: Karta (Qualifier of subject/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रापक (प्रातिपदिक; √आप् ‘प्राप्तौ’ ण्वुल्/क-प्रत्यय)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्; विशेषणम् (agentive derivative)

• प्राप्ये: in/with regard to the attainable
• प्राप्ये: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्राप्य (प्रातिपदिक; √आप् ‘प्राप्तौ’ यत्/ण्यत्-भाव)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचनम्; विशेषणम् (attainable)

• परे: supreme
• परे: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी, एकवचनम्; विशेषणम्

• ब्रह्मणि: in Brahman
• ब्रह्मणि: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, सप्तमी, एकवचनम्

• पार्थिव: O king/earthly one
• पार्थिव: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थिव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, सम्बोधन (8th/सम्बोधन), एकवचनम्; संबोधन-शब्दः

• प्रापणीयः: to be attained
• प्रापणीयः: Karta (Predicate adjective/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रापणीय (प्रातिपदिक; √आप् ‘प्राप्तौ’ + अनीयर्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्; विधेय-विशेषणम् (gerundive: ‘to be attained’)

• तथा: thus
• तथा: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषणम् (adverb: ‘thus/so’)

• एव: indeed
• एव: Sambandha (Qualifier/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: निपातः (emphasis)

• आत्मा: the self
• आत्मा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्

• प्रक्षीणाशेषभावनः: whose all mental impressions are exhausted
• प्रक्षीणाशेषभावनः: Karta (Qualifier of ‘ātmā’/कर्ता-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्र-क्षीण-अशेष-भावन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्; विशेषणम्; समासः: अशेषा भावनाः यस्य प्रक्षीणाः (whose residual impressions are exhausted)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching within the Vishnu Purana’s moksha discourse)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: When the Supreme Brahman is the goal, vijñāna (discriminative realization) is the direct means, and realization dawns only after all residual imaginings/conditioning are exhausted.

Vedantic Theme: Moksha

Application: Cultivate viveka through study and contemplation, and reduce vāsanā-s via disciplined sense-restraint, meditation, and ethical living until the mind’s projections subside.

Vishishtadvaita: Brahman is the supreme prāpya (attainable Lord) while the individual self’s purification is required for direct realization—liberation as right relation/vision rather than mere intellectual assent.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Characters & Entities

• Para Brahman
• Atman (Self)

FAQs

What is the significance of vijñāna in the Vishnu Purana’s path to liberation?

This verse presents vijñāna as the direct instrument of attainment—realization that leads the seeker to the Supreme Brahman rather than mere intellectual learning.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the condition for realizing the Self here?

He states that the Self is truly realized when all remaining mental constructions and habitual tendencies (aśeṣa-bhāvanā) are completely exhausted.

What is the theological importance of the Supreme Brahman in this context?

The verse frames Para Brahman as the highest goal and implies that liberation culminates in realizing the Supreme Reality—understood in the Vishnu Purana’s theology as the supreme principle identified with Vishnu.