Yājñavalkya king Janaka Saṃvāda

This saṃvāda comes from the 4^th to 24^th ślokas in the 310^th in the Śāntiparva In this Yājñavalkya advises king Janaka. In it the twenty five principles in the Sāṃkhya philosophy and nine types of sargas etc are also explained.

Conversation between Yājñavalkya and king Janaka. King Janaka asked ṛṣi Yājñavalkya how many kinds of senses were there and the types of Nature. He also wanted to know what unmanifest was, the birth and death, the limits of Age etc. Yājñavalkya said that eight principles constitute Nature which are the views of the people who are familiar with science of spirituality. The eight principles of Nature are the unmanifest, greatness, consciousness, the five elements of Earth, wind, Ether, water and Light. The changes of these principles are the ear, the skin, the eye, the tongue, the nose, the sound, touch, form, taste, scent, speech, arms, two feet, the lower duct and the organ of pleasure.^[1] Viśeṣa is that which commences with sound and that which originates with five principles. Saviśeṣa is the five senses of knowledge. Mind is the sixteenth principle. The unmanifest paves way to goodness, which in turn to consciousness and from consciousness to the mind. Mind is the birth place of great elements. Thus Yājñavalkya briefs twenty four principles.