Shloka 1
मृत्युकारणप्रश्नः / Inquiry into the Cause and Designation of Death
भीकम (2 अमान एकोनपज्चाशर्दाधिकद्विशततमो< ध्याय: ज्ञानके साधन तथा ज्ञानीके लक्षण और महिमा व्यास उवाच सृजते तु गुणान् सच्चं क्षेत्रज्ञस्त्वधितिष्ठति । गुणान् विक्रियत: सर्वानुदासीनवदी श्वर:
vyāsa uvāca | sṛjate tu guṇān satyaṃ kṣetrajñas tv adhitiṣṭhati | guṇān vikriyataḥ sarvān udāsīnavad īśvaraḥ ||
Vyāsa dit : « En vérité, c’est Prakṛti qui engendre les guṇas. Le kṣetrajña—le Soi, le connaisseur du “champ”—préside sur eux ; tel celui qui demeure détaché, le Seigneur ne fait que témoigner de tous ces guṇas tandis qu’ils subissent leurs multiples transformations. »
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes between Prakṛti, which produces and transforms the guṇas, and the kṣetrajña (the conscious Self), which presides over them yet remains inwardly detached—like a witness—thus pointing toward liberation through non-identification with changing qualities.
In the Mokṣadharma section of Śānti Parva, Vyāsa instructs (in a teacherly tone) on metaphysical discernment: the world’s changing states belong to the guṇas of nature, while the Self/Lord is portrayed as the overseeing, non-entangled witness.