Shloka 12
Adhyāya 314 — हिमवदाश्रमः, शक्तिक्षेपकथा, तथा स्वाध्यायविधिः
Himalayan Hermitage, the Myth of the Thrown Spear, and Rules of Vedic Study
अचेतना चैव मता प्रकृतिश्वापि पार्थिव | एतेनाधिछिता चैव सृजते संहरत्यपि,पृथ्वीनाथ! प्रकृति अचेतन मानी गयी है। इस परमतत्त्वद्वारा अधिष्ठित होकर ही वह सृष्टि एवं संहार करती है
acetanā caiva matā prakṛtiś cāpi pārthiva | etena adhiṣṭhitā caiva sṛjate saṃharaty api, pṛthvīnātha |
ヤージュニャヴァルキヤは言った。「王よ、プラクリティ（物質自然）はまことに無覚のものと見なされる。だがこの至上原理に主宰され、その力を授けられるとき、彼女は創造を生み、また壊滅においてそれを引き収める。ゆえに世界の営みは偶然ではない。惰性的な自然は、最高実在の統御のもとでのみ働くのだ。」
याज़्वल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Prakṛti is inert and cannot act independently; creation and dissolution occur only when Prakṛti is superintended by the Supreme Principle (the highest reality). This frames cosmic activity as governed, not accidental, and supports ethical detachment by locating agency beyond mere material processes.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, the sage Yājñavalkya addresses a king and explains the relation between Prakṛti (nature) and the supreme presiding reality: nature is non-conscious, yet under that higher governance it produces the universe and later withdraws it.