Shloka 114
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
अव्यक्तं प्रकृतिं त्वासां कलानां कश्चिदिच्छति । व्यक्ते चासां तथा चान्य: स्थूलदर्शी प्रपश्यति
avyaktaṁ prakṛtiṁ tv āsāṁ kalānāṁ kaścid icchati | vyakte cāsāṁ tathā cānyaḥ sthūladarśī prapaśyati |
Bhīṣma berkata: “Dalam kalangan ‘bahagian’ (kalā) ini, ada pemikir yang menganggap Prakṛti yang tidak termanifest (avyakta) sebagai sebab kebendaan. Yang lain, cenderung kepada analisis yang kasar dan nyata, menganggap yang termanifest—iaitu atom—sebagai sebab. Maka, menurut cara pandang masing-masing, aliran-aliran berbeza menisbahkan sebab sama ada kepada yang tidak termanifest atau kepada yang termanifest (dan ada juga yang mendamaikan kedua-duanya).”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights competing philosophical accounts of material causality: some posit the unmanifest Prakṛti as the source of constituents, while others posit the manifest (atoms) as the cause. The ethical-intellectual point is humility and discernment: conclusions about reality depend on one’s standpoint and method of knowing.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction, Bhīṣma is explaining doctrinal differences among thinkers regarding the origin of constituents (kalās). He reports how various schools interpret the material cause—unmanifest Nature versus manifest atomic reality—within a broader teaching on knowledge and liberation-oriented inquiry.