Shloka 27

Devanagari script

अव्यक्तमाहु: प्रकृतिं परां प्रकृतिवादिन: । तस्मान्महत्‌ समुत्पन्नं द्वितीयं राजसत्तम,नृपश्रेष्ठ! प्रकृतिवादी विद्वान्‌ मूल प्रकृतिको अव्यक्त कहते हैं। उससे दूसरा तत्त्व प्रकट हुआ, जिसे महत्तत्त्व कहते हैं

Transliteration

avyaktam āhuḥ prakṛtiṁ parāṁ prakṛtivādinaḥ | tasmān mahat samutpannaṁ dvitīyaṁ rājasattama, nṛpaśreṣṭha |

Translation

Vasiṣṭha sprach: „Die Vertreter der Prakṛti-Lehre erklären die höchste Prakṛti für das Unmanifestierte (Avyakta). Aus diesem Unmanifestierten entsteht das zweite Prinzip, das Große (Mahat). O bester der Könige, so schildern die Kenner der Prakṛti den Ursprung der ersten Entfaltung.“

Word by Word

अव्यक्तम्the unmanifest (as)

आहुःthey say/call

प्रकृतिम्nature, primal matter

पराम्supreme, higher

प्रकृतिवादिनःthe proponents of Prakriti-doctrine

तस्मात्from that

महत्the Mahat (great principle)

समुत्पन्नम्arisen, produced

द्वितीयम्the second

राजसत्तमO best of kings

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vasiṣṭha

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents a Prakṛti-based cosmology: the highest Prakṛti is called the Unmanifest (avyakta), and from it emerges the next principle, Mahat (the Great), which functions as the first manifest evolute and a foundation for further creation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vasiṣṭha addresses a king and explains a doctrinal account of creation used by Prakṛti-theorists, identifying the Unmanifest as the source and Mahat as the subsequent principle that arises from it.