Shloka 4
भिक्षुलक्षणम्—एकचर्याः, अहिंसा, कैवल्याश्रमः
Marks of the Mendicant: Solitary Wandering, Non-Injury, and the Kaivalya-Discipline
येषां चैकान्तभावेन स्वभावात् कारणं मतम् | पूत्वा तृणमिषीकां वा ते लभन्ते न किंचन
yeṣāṃ caikāntabhāvena svabhāvāt kāraṇaṃ matam | pūtvā tṛṇamiṣīkāṃ vā te labhante na kiṃcana ||
Vyāsa said: “There are those who, with absolute insistence, hold that ‘nature itself’ (svabhāva) alone is the cause, and that no cause exists beyond nature. Yet merely because something is not grasped by the senses, it is not reasonable to conclude that there is no higher cause such as the Lord. For when a blade of muñja-grass is split open, does one not indeed find the fine inner fiber (iṣīkā) that was previously unseen? In the same way, though the Supreme Self pervading the whole world may not be visible to the senses, it is certainly realized through higher, divine knowledge.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sense-nonperception is not a valid proof of nonexistence: just as a subtle fiber inside grass becomes evident when the stalk is split, the Supreme Self/Lord—though not seen by ordinary senses—can be realized through higher knowledge. The verse critiques an absolutist ‘svabhāva alone is the cause’ position when it is used to deny any transcendent principle.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vyāsa addresses a doctrinal view that reduces causality to mere nature (svabhāva). He counters it with a concrete analogy (splitting grass to reveal an unseen inner strand) to argue that unseen realities may still be discoverable by appropriate means of knowledge.