Shloka 25
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
पुरुषाधिछितान् भावान् प्रकृति: सूयते यदा । हेतुयुक्तमत: पूर्व जगत् सम्परिवर्तते
puruṣādhiṣṭhitān bhāvān prakṛtiḥ sūyate yadā | hetuyuktam ataḥ pūrvaṁ jagat samparivartate ||
Bhīṣma sprach: Wenn die Natur (prakṛti) die verschiedenen Zustände und Gestalten hervorbringt, über die die Person (puruṣa) waltet, so ist es allein die Natur, die die mannigfaltigen Dinge formt, die durch das Wirken jener Person erdacht werden. Aus dieser Natur entsteht zuerst die Welt mitsamt ihrer Kausalordnung; danach schreitet das All in seinen zyklischen Wandlungen fort.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a Sāṅkhya-style account: the conscious principle (puruṣa) provides superintendence/intent, while prakṛti is the productive power that actually manifests the world. The universe arises with an intelligible causal structure (hetuyukta) and then continues through cyclical transformations.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhīṣma explains to Yudhiṣṭhira the metaphysical basis of creation—how prakṛti, under the presiding presence of puruṣa, produces the manifold world and how that world proceeds through ongoing cycles of change.