Shloka 28
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
वायोस्तेजस्ततश्चाप अद्भ्योडथ वसुधोद्गता । मूलप्रकृतयो हराष्टी जगदेतास्ववस्थितम्
vāyor tejas tataś cāpa adbhyō ’tha vasudhōdgatā | mūla-prakṛtayo ’ṣṭau proktā jagad etāsv avasthitam ||
ਵਾਯੂ ਤੋਂ ਤੇਜ (ਅਗਨੀ), ਤੇਜ ਤੋਂ ਆਪः (ਜਲ), ਅਤੇ ਜਲ ਤੋਂ ਵਸੁਧਾ (ਪ੍ਰਿਥਵੀ) ਉਤਪੰਨ ਹੋਈ। ਇਸ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਅੱਠ ਮੂਲ-ਪ੍ਰਕ੍ਰਿਤੀਆਂ ਦੱਸੀਆਂ ਗਈਆਂ ਹਨ; ਇਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਹੀ ਸਾਰਾ ਜਗਤ ਟਿਕਿਆ ਹੋਇਆ ਹੈ।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a cosmological sequence of elemental manifestation—wind gives rise to fire, fire to water, and water to earth—and frames these as part of the eight root constituents (mūla-prakṛtis) on which the universe depends.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on philosophical foundations that support dharma and right understanding; here he outlines how the world is grounded in fundamental principles and elements.