Shloka 28
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
वायोस्तेजस्ततश्चाप अद्भ्योडथ वसुधोद्गता । मूलप्रकृतयो हराष्टी जगदेतास्ववस्थितम्
vāyor tejas tataś cāpa adbhyō ’tha vasudhōdgatā | mūla-prakṛtayo ’ṣṭau proktā jagad etāsv avasthitam ||
वायु से तेज (अग्नि) उत्पन्न हुआ, तेज से आप (जल) और जल से वसुधा (पृथ्वी) प्रकट हुई। इस प्रकार आठ मूल-प्रकृतियाँ कही गयी हैं; इन्हीं में सम्पूर्ण जगत् प्रतिष्ठित है।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a cosmological sequence of elemental manifestation—wind gives rise to fire, fire to water, and water to earth—and frames these as part of the eight root constituents (mūla-prakṛtis) on which the universe depends.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on philosophical foundations that support dharma and right understanding; here he outlines how the world is grounded in fundamental principles and elements.