Shloka 2
मृत्युकारणप्रश्नः / Inquiry into the Cause and Designation of Death
स्वभावयुक्त तत् सर्व यदिमान् सृजते गुणान् । ऊर्णनाभिर्यथा सूत्र सृजते तद्गुणांस्तथा,जैसे मकड़ी अपने शरीरसे तन्तुओंकी सृष्टि करती है, उसी प्रकार प्रकृति भी समस्त त्रिगुणात्मक पदार्थोंको उत्पन्न करती है। प्रकृति जो इन सब विषयोंकी सृष्टि करती है, वह सब उसके स्वभावसे ही होता है
svabhāvayuktaṁ tat sarvaṁ yad imān sṛjate guṇān | ūrṇanābhir yathā sūtraṁ sṛjate tad-guṇāṁs tathā ||
Vyāsa said: All this that brings forth these qualities does so in accordance with its own inherent nature. Just as a spider spins out its thread from itself, so does Prakṛti, by its own constitution, generate the manifold products constituted of the three guṇas.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Creation and the arising of the guṇas are presented as a natural outflow of Prakṛti’s own svabhāva (inherent constitution), not as an arbitrary act. The spider-thread image teaches that effects proceed from the cause’s own nature—supporting a Sāṅkhya-style view of causality and encouraging discernment of guṇa-driven phenomena.
In the didactic setting of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa continues an instruction on metaphysical principles: how the world of qualities and objects arises. He illustrates the process with a familiar analogy (a spider spinning its thread) to clarify that the manifested world is generated from Prakṛti itself, in accordance with its innate tendencies.