Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 134
Pitṛ-śrāddha-haviḥ-phala-nirdeśa
Offerings for Ancestors and Their Stated Results
अष्टौ कविसुता होते सर्वमेभिर्जगत् ततम् । प्रजापतय एते हि प्रजाभागैरिह प्रजा:
aṣṭau kavisutā hote sarvam ebhir jagat tatam | prajāpātaya ete hi prajābhāgair iha prajāḥ ||
瓦西什塔说道：“迦毗有八子；由他们，此整个世界得以遍满。确然，这八位即是众生之主——般若波底（Prajāpati）；又因他们在此分有繁衍之要素与职分，故他们自身亦被称为‘众生/民众’（prajā）。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links cosmic order to progenitor figures: the world is sustained and ‘pervaded’ through specific creative lineages (Prajāpatis). It also highlights a conceptual overlap—those who generate and govern progeny are called Prajāpatis, yet because they embody the very ‘shares’ or constituents of prajā, they can also be termed prajā, stressing interdependence between ruler/creator and the created.
Vasiṣṭha is explaining a genealogical-cosmological point: he identifies eight sons of Kavi and states that they function as Prajāpatis whose agency spreads throughout the world, accounting for the propagation and organization of living beings (prajā) within the cosmic scheme.