Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 35
Mind as Charioteer; Kṣetrajña, Tapas, and Dhyāna-Yoga
Adhyātma-Upadeśa
बीजधर्म तथाव्यक्तं प्रसवात्मकमेव च । बीजधर्मा महानात्मा प्रसवश्चेति नः श्रुतम्,अव्यक्त प्रकृति कारणरूपा भी है और कार्यरूपा भी। इसी प्रकार महत्तत्त्वके भी कारण और कार्य दोनों ही स्वरूप सुने गये हैं
bījadharma tathāvyaktaṃ prasavātmakam eva ca | bījadharmā mahānātmā prasavaś ceti naḥ śrutam |
伐由说道：“未显（Avyakta）被称为具种子之性，亦具生发之力——能引生创造。大（Mahat）亦如是：传闻它既如种子（因地），又为‘生起’（一果复能生果）。”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a causal chain in which the Unmanifest (Avyakta) and the Great Principle (Mahat) are each described as both cause (seed-like ground) and effect (a produced stage that itself produces further evolutes). It emphasizes layered causality: what is ‘born’ can still function as a ‘seed’ for what follows.
Vāyudeva is instructing the listener in a philosophical exposition (Sāṅkhya-like) about the origins of manifestation, explaining how Avyakta and Mahat are traditionally understood as simultaneously causal and productive principles within the unfolding of creation.