Shloka 35
अव्यक्त–पुरुष–विवेकः (Discrimination of Avyakta/Prakṛti and Puruṣa) — Yājñavalkya’s Anvīkṣikī to Viśvāvasu
एकत्वं च बहुत्वं च प्रकृतेरर्थतत्त्ववान् । एकत्वं प्रलये चास्य बहुत्वं च प्रवर्तनात्
ekatvaṃ ca bahutvaṃ ca prakṛter arthatattvavān | ekatvaṃ pralaye cāsya bahutvaṃ ca pravartanāt ||
Vasiṣṭha dit : «Celui qui comprend véritablement la réalité et la finalité de la Prakṛti reconnaît à la fois son unité et sa multiplicité. Dans la dissolution, elle est une, recueillie dans l’unité; mais lorsque le processus de manifestation commence, elle apparaît comme multiple.»
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Prakṛti can be understood in two complementary ways: as one undivided principle in cosmic dissolution (pralaya), and as many diverse forms when manifestation is set in motion. Wisdom lies in seeing unity behind multiplicity without denying the experienced diversity of the world.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vasiṣṭha is teaching a metaphysical point about the nature of reality: how the manifest world of many forms arises from, and returns to, a single underlying principle (Prakṛti), framing a contemplative basis for detachment and right understanding.