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 |
ภีษมะกล่าวว่า “ในบรรดาส่วนประกอบ (กลา) เหล่านี้ บางสำนักถือว่าปฤกฤติอันไม่ปรากฏ (อวฺยกฺตะ) เป็นเหตุวัตถุ ส่วนอีกพวกหนึ่งซึ่งมองแบบหยาบและจับต้องได้ เห็นว่าสิ่งที่ปรากฏ—คือปรมาณู—เป็นเหตุ.”
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.