Shloka 108
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
प्रकृतिवर्यक्तिरित्येतो गुणी यस्मिन् समाश्रितो,जिसमें प्रकृति (माया) और व्यक्ति (प्रकाश)-ये दो गुण आश्रित हैं (यहाँतक सब अठारह हुए)
prakṛti-vyaktir ity etau guṇī yasmin samāśritau
Bhīṣma said: “In that principle, both Prakṛti (the unmanifest causal nature) and Vyakti (the manifest appearance) are held as its attributes. Thus, up to this point, the enumeration reaches eighteen.”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Prakṛti (unmanifest nature) and Vyakti (manifest expression) as dependent attributes within a higher ‘guṇin’ (substratum/possessor of qualities), emphasizing a layered metaphysics where manifest and unmanifest are not ultimate but grounded in a more fundamental principle.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma continues his didactic exposition to Yudhiṣṭhira, presenting a systematic enumeration of principles (tattvas). Here he notes that counting Prakṛti and Vyakti as two attributes brings the running total to eighteen.