Shloka 23
Vānaprastha-vṛtti and the Transition toward the Fourth Āśrama (वानप्रस्थवृत्तिः चतुर्थाश्रमोपक्रमश्च)
प्रजापतिरिवाक्षो भ्य: शरीरात् सृजते प्रजा: । अड्गुल्यड्गुष्ठमात्रेण हस्तपादेन वा तथा
prajāpatir ivākṣobhyaḥ śarīrāt sṛjate prajāḥ | aṅguly-aṅguṣṭha-mātreṇa hasta-pādena vā tathā ||
Vyāsa dit : «Tel Prajāpati, l’Inébranlable fait naître les êtres vivants de son propre corps ; de même, fût-ce à la simple mesure d’un doigt ou d’un pouce, ou encore par une main ou un pied, la création peut être engendrée.»
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes the effortless sovereignty of the creator: just as Prajāpati generates beings from his own body, the supreme, unshakable source can manifest creation even from the smallest portion—highlighting divine potency and the non-limitation of creative power.
Vyāsa is explaining a cosmological point within the Shānti Parva’s reflective discourse: he uses Prajāpati as an analogy to illustrate how beings can be produced from the creator’s own substance, even from a minute measure such as a finger or thumb (or a hand or foot).