Shloka 25
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
पुरुषाधिछितान् भावान् प्रकृति: सूयते यदा । हेतुयुक्तमत: पूर्व जगत् सम्परिवर्तते
puruṣādhiṣṭhitān bhāvān prakṛtiḥ sūyate yadā | hetuyuktam ataḥ pūrvaṁ jagat samparivartate ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: Cuando la Naturaleza (prakṛti) hace surgir los diversos estados y formas presididos por la Persona (puruṣa), es la Naturaleza sola la que modela los múltiples objetos concebidos por mediación de esa Persona. De esta Naturaleza nace primero el mundo junto con su orden causal; después, el universo prosigue en sus transformaciones cíclicas.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a Sāṅkhya-style account: the conscious principle (puruṣa) provides superintendence/intent, while prakṛti is the productive power that actually manifests the world. The universe arises with an intelligible causal structure (hetuyukta) and then continues through cyclical transformations.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhīṣma explains to Yudhiṣṭhira the metaphysical basis of creation—how prakṛti, under the presiding presence of puruṣa, produces the manifold world and how that world proceeds through ongoing cycles of change.