Shloka 75

Devanagari script

यतोऊहं प्रसृतः पूर्वमव्यक्तात्‌ त्रिगुणो महान्‌ | तस्मात्‌ परतरो यो सौ क्षेत्रज्ञ इति कल्पित:,'पूर्वकालमें अव्यक्त प्रकृतिसे जो त्रिगुणात्मक महान्‌ अहंकार प्रकट हुआ था, उससे अत्यन्त परे जिसकी स्थिति है, वह समष्टि चेतन क्षेत्रज्ञ माना गया है

Transliteration

yato'haṃ prasṛtaḥ pūrvam avyaktāt triguṇo mahān | tasmāt parataro yo'sau kṣetrajña iti kalpitaḥ ||

Translation

અવ્યક્ત પ્રકૃતિમાંથી પૂર્વે ત્રિગુણાત્મક મહાન ‘અહં’ (અહંકાર) પ્રસરી નીકળ્યો; પરંતુ તેનાથી પણ પરે જે પરમ છે, તે જ સમષ્ટિ ચેતન ‘ક્ષેત્રજ્ઞ’ તરીકે કલ્પિત છે.

Word by Word

यतःfrom which/whence

अहम्I / the 'ahaṃ' principle (ego-sense)

प्रसृतःemerged/issued forth

पूर्वम्formerly/earlier

अव्यक्तात्from the unmanifest (prakṛti)

त्रिगुणःthree- गुणas-constituted

महान्the Mahat (cosmic intellect)

तस्मात्from that/than that

परतरःhigher/farther beyond

यःwho/which

सःhe/that (one)

क्षेत्रज्ञःknower of the field (conscious self)

इतिthus

कल्पितःis conceived/considered

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

avyakta (Prakṛti)

triguṇa

mahān (Mahat)

ahaṃkāra (implied by ‘ahaṃ’ as the emergent I-sense)

kṣetrajña

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse distinguishes levels of reality: from unmanifest Prakṛti arises the guṇa-based cosmic principle and the ‘I’-sense, but beyond these evolutes is the higher conscious principle—the universal kṣetrajña—identified as the true knower and basis of experience.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana continues a doctrinal exposition in Śānti Parva, presenting a Sāṅkhya-like account of cosmic emergence and then pointing beyond material principles to the supreme conscious knower (kṣetrajña) as the culminating reference point for understanding self and liberation.