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 |
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Sa mga ‘bahagi’ (kalā) na ito, may ilang palaisip na nagsasabing ang di-nahahayag na Kalikasan (prakṛti, avyakta) ang materyal na sanhi. Ang iba naman, na nakatuon sa magaspang at nahahawakang pagsusuri, ay itinuturing na ang nahahayag—ang mga atomo—ang sanhi. Kaya, ayon sa paraan ng pagtanaw, itinatakda ng iba’t ibang paaralan ang sanhi sa di-nahahayag o sa nahahayag (at may ilan ding pinagsasama ang dalawa).”
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.