Shloka 4
अव्यक्त-प्रबोधः (Awakening to the Unmanifest): The 25th and 26th Principles and Eligibility for Brahma-vidyā
सुक्षेत्राच्च सुबीजाच्च पुण्यो भवति सम्भव: । अतोथ<न्यतरतो हीनादवरो नाम जायते
sukṣetrāc ca subījāc ca puṇyo bhavati sambhavaḥ | ato ’nyatarato hīnād avaro nāma jāyate ||
ਪਰਾਸ਼ਰ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ— ਉੱਤਮ ਖੇਤਰ ਅਤੇ ਉੱਤਮ ਬੀਜ ਤੋਂ ਜੋ ਜਨਮ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ, ਉਹ ਪਵਿੱਤਰ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ। ਪਰ ਖੇਤਰ ਜਾਂ ਬੀਜ—ਇਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਵਿੱਚੋਂ ਕੋਈ ਇੱਕ ਵੀ ਹੀਣ ਹੋਵੇ, ਤਾਂ ਜੋ ਜਨਮਦਾ ਹੈ ਉਹ ‘ਅਵਰ’ ਕਿਹਾ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ।
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the moral and qualitative outcome of birth depends on both causes: the 'field' (nurturing ground/womb/environment) and the 'seed' (generative source/lineage). Excellence in both yields a 'pure' outcome; deficiency in either tends toward an inferior result—an ethical statement about causality and responsibility in procreation and upbringing.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Parāśara delivers a didactic maxim using agricultural metaphor—field and seed—to explain how qualities are transmitted and formed, linking social and ethical outcomes to the conditions of origin.