Shloka 16
Adhyāya 353 — Kathā-prāmāṇya (Authority of Transmission) and the Brāhmaṇa’s Ascetic Resolve
स सप्तदशकेनापि राशिना युज्यते च सः । एवं बहुविध: प्रोक्त: पुरुषस्ते यथाक्रमम्
sa saptadaśakenāpi rāśinā yujyate ca saḥ | evaṁ bahuvidhaḥ proktaḥ puruṣas te yathākramam |
ビーシュマは言った。「その同じプルシャは、また十七の原理の総体とも結びついている。ゆえに順を追って説けば、プルシャは多様であると語られる。業の差別によって、神々や獣などさまざまな境位を得るからである。このようにして、プルシャが本質においては一でありながら、経験においては多として現れることを、段階を追って汝に示した。」
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
The conscious Self (Puruṣa) is one in essence, yet appears manifold because it is associated with a seventeenfold aggregate (the subtle-body principles) and, through differences of karma, experiences varied births and states such as divine and animal.
Bhishma (Pitamaha) continues his instruction in the Shanti Parva, explaining to his listener—sequentially—how the Puruṣa relates to the subtle body and why the same Self is spoken of as ‘many’ in the context of karmic destinies.