Shloka 15
Śuka–Janaka Saṃvāda: Āśrama-krama, Jñāna-vijñāna, and the Marks of Liberation (शुक-जनक संवादः)
प्रकृतिर्गुणान् विकुरुते स्वच्छन्देनात्मकाम्यया । क्रीडार्थे तु महाराज शतशोडथ सहस्रश:,महाराज! प्रकृति स्वतन्त्रतापूर्वक खेल करनेके लिये अपनी ही इच्छासे सैकड़ों और हजारों गुणोंको उत्पन्न करती है
prakṛtir guṇān vikurute svacchandena ātmakāmyayā | krīḍārthe tu mahārāja śataśo ’tha sahasraśaḥ ||
Yājñavalkya dit : «Ô grand roi, Prakṛti (la Nature), librement et par le désir souverain de sa propre volonté, diversifie et transforme les guṇa. En vérité, pour le seul jeu, elle les fait naître par centaines et par milliers.»
याज़्वल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the manifold world arises from Prakṛti’s autonomous activity: Nature, driven by its own impulse, continually transforms and proliferates the guṇas into countless forms. Ethically, this supports vairāgya (detachment): recognizing phenomena as guṇa-transformations helps one avoid egoic ownership and remain steady in dharma.
In a didactic dialogue within Śānti Parva, the sage Yājñavalkya addresses a king and explains a Sāṅkhya-style account of manifestation: Prakṛti, for ‘play,’ generates innumerable variations of the guṇas, thereby producing the diversity experienced in the world.