Shloka 27
अव्यक्त–पुरुष–विवेकः (Discrimination of Avyakta/Prakṛti and Puruṣa) — Yājñavalkya’s Anvīkṣikī to Viśvāvasu
अव्यक्तमाहु: प्रकृतिं परां प्रकृतिवादिन: । तस्मान्महत् समुत्पन्नं द्वितीयं राजसत्तम
avyaktam āhuḥ prakṛtiṁ parāṁ prakṛtivādinaḥ | tasmān mahat samutpannaṁ dvitīyaṁ rājasattama, nṛpaśreṣṭha |
વસિષ્ઠે કહ્યું—પ્રકૃતિ-વાદીઓ પરમ પ્રકૃતિને ‘અવ્યક્ત’ કહે છે. હે રાજશ્રેષ્ઠ! તે અવ્યક્તમાંથી બીજું તત્ત્વ ઉત્પન્ન થાય છે, જેને ‘મહત્તત્ત્વ’ કહે છે.
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a Prakṛti-based cosmology: the highest Prakṛti is called the Unmanifest (avyakta), and from it emerges the next principle, Mahat (the Great), which functions as the first manifest evolute and a foundation for further creation.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vasiṣṭha addresses a king and explains a doctrinal account of creation used by Prakṛti-theorists, identifying the Unmanifest as the source and Mahat as the subsequent principle that arises from it.