Shloka 17
Nāgendra–Brāhmaṇa Saṃvāda: Praśna-vidhi and Dharmic Approach on the Gomatī Riverbank
तमसो ब्रह्म सम्भूतं तमोमूलामृतात्मकम् । तद्विश्चभावसंज्ञान्तं पौरुषी तनुमाश्रितम्
tamasaḥ brahma sambhūtaṃ tamomūlāmṛtātmakam | tadviśvabhāvasaṃjñāntaṃ pauruṣīṃ tanum āśritam ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。闇（タマス）よりブラフマンは顕れたと言われる――闇の原理を根とし、不死の精髄（アムリタ）の性を帯びて。かの実在は、宇宙のあらゆる状態の基盤として知られ、宇宙的人格（普遍の姿）の身体に依りて安住する。
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a cosmological-metaphysical account: the supreme principle (Brahman) is described in relation to tamas (the obscuring, undifferentiated principle) and amṛta (the deathless essence). It suggests that the ground of reality, while transcendent, is also the basis of universal manifestation and is spoken of as abiding in the cosmic form (Puruṣa), linking ultimate reality with the manifested universe.
In the didactic discourse of Śānti Parva, Vaiśampāyana continues an exposition on first principles—how the universe is accounted for in terms of fundamental categories (tamas, amṛta, Brahman/Puruṣa). The focus is not on external action but on explaining the metaphysical basis of creation and the relation between the unmanifest and the manifest.