Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 33
Mind as Charioteer; Kṣetrajña, Tapas, and Dhyāna-Yoga
Adhyātma-Upadeśa
तत्र प्रधानमव्यक्तमव्यक्तस्य गुणो महान् । महत्प्रधानभूतस्य गुणो5हंकार एव च,प्रधानका दूसरा नाम अव्यक्त है। अव्यक्तका कार्य महत्तत्त्व है और प्रकृतिसे उत्पन्न महत्तत्त्वका कार्य अहंकार है
tatra pradhānam avyaktam avyaktasya guṇo mahān | mahat-pradhāna-bhūtasya guṇo'haṅkāra eva ca ||
Wika ni Vāyu: “Sa pagkakasunod na iyon, ang Pradhāna ay ang Di-Nahahayag (Avyakta). Mula sa Di-Nahahayag sumisibol ang Dakilang Prinsipyo (Mahat). At mula sa Mahat—na isinilang mula sa Prakṛti—sumisilang ang Ahaṅkāra, ang diwang ‘ako’.” Sa aral na ito, dito nagsisimula ang panloob na pagkagapos: kapag umusbong ang ‘ako’ mula sa sinaunang kalikasan; kaya hinihingi ng dharma na maunawaan ang prosesong ito at huwag ipagkamali ang hinubog na ego bilang tunay na Sarili.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
It outlines a Sāṅkhya-style causal sequence: Pradhāna (Prakṛti in its unmanifest state) gives rise to Mahat (the Great Principle/intellect), and from Mahat arises Ahaṅkāra (ego). Ethically, it implies that suffering and conflict are fueled by the ego’s appropriation; discernment of this chain supports self-mastery and dharmic conduct.
Vāyudeva is instructing the listener by explaining foundational metaphysical categories—how the unmanifest primordial nature unfolds into intellect and then ego—within a didactic passage of the Aśvamedhika Parva.