Shloka 30
Vānaprastha-vṛtti and the Transition toward the Fourth Āśrama (वानप्रस्थवृत्तिः चतुर्थाश्रमोपक्रमश्च)
प्रोक्त तद् व्यक्तमित्येव जायते वर्धते च यत् । जीर्यते प्रियते चैव चतुर्भिलक्षणैर्युतम्,जन्म, वृद्धि, जरा और मरण--इन चार लक्षणोंसे युक्त जो तत्त्व है, उसीको व्यक्त कहते हैं
prokta tad vyaktam ity eva jāyate vardhate ca yat | jīryate prīyate caiva caturbhir lakṣaṇair yutam ||
Vyāsa said: “That principle which is described as the ‘manifest’ is precisely that which comes into being, grows, decays, and finally perishes—being marked by these four signs. Whatever is subject to birth, increase, aging, and death is called the manifest.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines the ‘manifest’ (vyakta) as whatever is conditioned by the fourfold cycle of birth, growth, decay, and destruction. It directs the reader to recognize impermanence as a defining mark of all manifested phenomena.
In the didactic discourse of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa is explaining philosophical categories. Here he clarifies how to identify the manifest realm by its observable life-cycle, preparing the ground for contrasting it with what is unmanifest or beyond change.