Shloka 43
नारद–शुक संवादः
Impermanence, Svabhāva, and Śuka’s Resolve for Yoga
चलां तु प्रकृतिं प्राहु: कारणं क्षयसर्गयो: । आक्षेपसर्गयो: कर्ता निश्चल: पुरुष: स्मृत:
calāṃ tu prakṛtiṃ prāhuḥ kāraṇaṃ kṣaya-sargayoḥ | ākṣepa-sargayoḥ kartā niścalāḥ puruṣaḥ smṛtaḥ ||
Yājñavalkya sprach: „Prakṛti heißt ‘beweglich’ (wandelbar), denn sie ist die kausale Grundlage sowohl von Auflösung als auch von Schöpfung. Der Puruṣa hingegen gilt als ‘unbeweglich’: als Handelnder hinsichtlich Ausstrahlung und Manifestation bleibt er unverändert, während die Vorgänge von Hervorbringung und Rücknahme sich vollziehen.“
याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes two principles: Prakṛti is changeful and serves as the causal ground for creation and dissolution, while Puruṣa is essentially unmoving/unchanging, associated with agency in manifestation without itself undergoing transformation.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Yājñavalkya explains a Sāṅkhya-style framework to clarify how cosmic processes (sṛṣṭi and pralaya) relate to the material principle (Prakṛti) and the conscious principle (Puruṣa).