Shloka 52
कालनिर्णयः, युगधर्मवर्णनम्, सृष्टिक्रमश्च
Time-Reckoning, Yuga-Dharma, and the Sequence of Creation
तमिन्द्रियाणि सर्वाणि नानुपश्यन्ति प्रड्चधा । आहुश्वैनं केचिदर्ग्निं केचिदाहु: प्रजापतिम्
tam indriyāṇi sarvāṇi nānupaśyanti pṛthagdhā | āhuś cainaṃ kecid agniṃ kecid āhuḥ prajāpatiṃ ||
Śakra said: “All the senses, each in its own limited way, do not truly perceive Him. Some declare Him to be Agni (Fire), while others proclaim Him to be Prajāpati (the Lord of creatures).”
श॒क्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that ultimate reality is not grasped by the senses, which operate in partial and divided ways. Because of this limitation, people describe the same supreme principle through different divine names and functions (e.g., Agni, Prajāpati), pointing to one reality approached through multiple conceptions.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Śakra (Indra) speaks about the nature of the supreme. He explains why various traditions and thinkers identify the highest principle differently: sensory and conceptual limits lead to diverse attributions, even though the referent is one.