Shloka 16
Śukasya Janma-yoga-phalaṁ — Vyāsasya Tapasā Putrārthaḥ (Śānti-parva 310)
अव्यक्ताच्च महानात्मा समुत्पद्यति पार्थिव | प्रथमं सर्गमित्येतदाहु: प्राधानिकं बुधा:,पृथ्वीनाथ! अव्यक्त प्रकृतिसे महत्तत्त्व (समष्टि बुद्धि) की उत्पत्ति होती है। इसे विद्वान् पुरुष प्रथम एवं प्राकृत सृष्टि कहते हैं
avyaktāc ca mahān ātmā samutpadyati pārthiva | prathamaṁ sargam ity etad āhuḥ prādhānikaṁ budhāḥ ||
Yājñavalkya sprach: „O König, aus dem Unmanifesten (avyakta) geht das Große Prinzip (mahat) hervor, die kosmische Intelligenz. Die Weisen nennen dies die erste Schöpfung, die uranfängliche Emanation (prādhānika).“
याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse outlines a Sāṅkhya-like sequence of cosmic origination: from the Unmanifest primordial nature (avyakta/pradhāna) emerges mahat, the Great Principle or cosmic intelligence. This is identified as the first, primordial stage of creation.
In the Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, the sage Yājñavalkya addresses a king and explains a philosophical account of creation, defining the earliest phase as the arising of mahat from the unmanifest source.