Shloka 10

Śukasya Janma-yoga-phalaṁ — Vyāsasya Tapasā Putrārthaḥ (Śānti-parva 310)

Devanagari script

अष्टौ प्रकृतय: प्रोक्ता विकाराश्चापि षोडश । तत्र तु प्रकृतीरष्टौ प्राहुरध्यात्मचिन्तका:,प्रकृतियाँ आठ बतायी गयी हैं और उनके विकार सोलह। अध्यात्मशास्त्रका चिन्तन करनेवाले विद्वान्‌ आठ प्रकृतियोंके नाम इस प्रकार बतलाते हैं--अव्यक्त (मूल प्रकृति), महत्तत्त्व, अहंकार, आकाश, वायु, अग्नि, जल और पृथ्वी

Transliteration

aṣṭau prakṛtayaḥ proktā vikārāś cāpi ṣoḍaśa | tatra tu prakṛtīr aṣṭau prāhur adhyātma-cintakāḥ ||

Translation

Yājñavalkya sprach: „Acht Grundprinzipien werden als ‘prakṛtis’ bezeichnet, und ihre Umwandlungen gelten als sechzehn. In dieser Hinsicht zählen die Betrachtenden, die über das innere Selbst (adhyātma) nachsinnen, die acht prakṛtis auf als: die unmanifestierte Wurzelnatur (avyakta), das große Prinzip (mahat), das Ich-Bewusstsein (ahaṃkāra) und die fünf großen Elemente — Raum, Wind, Feuer, Wasser und Erde.“

Word by Word

• {'aṣṭau': 'eight', 'prakṛtayaḥ (prakṛti)': 'primordial natures

• fundamental principles/constituents', 'proktāḥ': 'declared

• taught', 'vikārāḥ': 'modifications

• derivative transformations', 'cāpi': 'and also', 'ṣoḍaśa': 'sixteen', 'tatra tu': 'therein

• in that matter', 'prāhuḥ': 'they say

• they declare', 'adhyātma-cintakāḥ': 'thinkers devoted to adhyātma

• contemplatives of the inner self/spiritual doctrine', 'avyakta': 'the unmanifest

• root nature (mūla-prakṛti)', 'mahat-tattva': 'the ‘great principle’

• cosmic intelligence', 'ahaṃkāra': 'ego-maker

• I-sense', 'ākāśa': 'space/ether', 'vāyu': 'wind/air', 'agni': 'fire', 'jala': 'water', 'pṛthivī': 'earth'}

Speaker

याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yājñavalkya
• prakṛti
• vikāra
• avyakta
• mahat-tattva
• ahaṃkāra
• ākāśa
• vāyu
• agni
• jala
• pṛthivī

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse outlines a Sāṅkhya-style framework: eight foundational ‘prakṛtis’ (including the unmanifest, mahat, ahaṃkāra, and the five great elements) and sixteen ‘vikāras’ (their evolutes). It frames spiritual inquiry as understanding how the manifest world arises from fundamental principles, aiding detachment and self-knowledge.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, Yājñavalkya is instructing listeners in adhyātma (inner/spiritual doctrine) by enumerating the basic constituents of reality as taught by contemplative sages, shifting the discussion from external action to philosophical analysis of nature and self.