Prakaraṇa 6 · Verse 17
देहेन्द्रियमनोबुद्धिवृत्तयः परमात्मनि । लीना न जातु भेदेन पश्यन्ति परमात्मनम् ॥
dehendriyamanobuddhivṛttayaḥ paramātmani | līnā na jātu bhedena paśyanti paramātmanam ||
The functions of the body, the senses, the mind and the intellect, merged in the supreme Self, never see the supreme Self with differentiation.
The vṛttis—undulations of the mental field—are herein not obstacles but undulations of the ocean itself. Merged (līnāḥ) into the paramātman, they are not annulled but rendered transparent. Whereas sāṃkhya delineates the vṛttis as modifications of prakṛti, Vāsiṣṭha transcends such duality: the vṛttis are the paramātman beheld from the vantage of individuality. ‘Differentiation’ (bheda) constitutes the operation of ahaṃkāra—the principle of individuation—that cleaves the continuity of consciousness into seemingly autonomous fragments.