Shloka 4
अव्यक्त-प्रबोधः (Awakening to the Unmanifest): The 25th and 26th Principles and Eligibility for Brahma-vidyā
सुक्षेत्राच्च सुबीजाच्च पुण्यो भवति सम्भव: । अतोथ<न्यतरतो हीनादवरो नाम जायते
sukṣetrāc ca subījāc ca puṇyo bhavati sambhavaḥ | ato ’nyatarato hīnād avaro nāma jāyate ||
パラーシャラは言った。「良き田と良き種とから生ずる誕生は、まことに清らかである。だが田か種のいずれかが劣れば、生まれるものもまた劣ると知られる。」
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the moral and qualitative outcome of birth depends on both causes: the 'field' (nurturing ground/womb/environment) and the 'seed' (generative source/lineage). Excellence in both yields a 'pure' outcome; deficiency in either tends toward an inferior result—an ethical statement about causality and responsibility in procreation and upbringing.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Parāśara delivers a didactic maxim using agricultural metaphor—field and seed—to explain how qualities are transmitted and formed, linking social and ethical outcomes to the conditions of origin.