Shloka 1
अफ्-्#-रत द्रयोधिकद्विशततमो< ध्याय: आत्मतत्त्वका और बुद्धि आदि प्राकृत पदार्थोंका विवेचन तथा उसके साक्षात्कारका उपाय मनुर्वाच अक्षरात् खं ततो वायुस्ततो ज्योतिस्ततो जलम् | जलात् प्रसूता जगती जगत्यां जायते जगत्,मनु कहते हैं--बृहस्पते! अविनाशी परमात्मासे आकाश, आकाशसे वायु, वायुसे अग्नि, अग्निसे जल और जलसे यह पृथ्वी उत्पन्न हुई है। इस पृथ्वीमें ही सम्पूर्ण पार्थिव जगतकी उत्पत्ति होती है
manur uvāca | akṣarāt khaṃ tato vāyus tato jyotis tato jalam | jalāt prasūtā jagatī jagatyāṃ jāyate jagat ||
Manu said: “O Bṛhaspati, from the Imperishable (akṣara) arises space; from space, wind; from wind, fire; from fire, water; and from water, the earth is born. Upon this earth, the entire world of embodied, earthly beings comes into manifestation.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Reality unfolds in an ordered sequence from the Imperishable principle to the gross elements, culminating in earth and the manifested world. The ethical implication is that dharma is best understood when grounded in knowledge of the self and the structure of existence, not merely in social convention.
Within Bhīṣma’s instruction in Śānti Parva, he cites Manu’s discourse addressed to Bṛhaspati, introducing a cosmological account of creation (space → wind → fire → water → earth) as part of a broader exposition on ātma-tattva and the means to its realization.