Shloka 12
सत्य–अनृत, प्रकाश–तमस्, स्वर्ग–नरक विवेचनम्
Truth and Untruth as Light and Darkness; Svarga and Naraka as Ethical Consequences
अव्यक्त इति विख्यात: शाश्रवृतो5थाक्षयोडव्यय: । यतः सृष्टानि भूतानि जायन्ते च ग्रियन्ति च
avyakta iti vikhyātaḥ śāśvato ’thākṣayo ’vyayaḥ | yataḥ sṛṣṭāni bhūtāni jāyante ca mriyante ca ||
毗湿摩说：那至上本原以“未显”（avyakta）著称；它恒常不灭，不坏不衰。由它而生一切受造之众；随时间流转，众生反复出生、反复死亡。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that behind the changing world of birth and death stands an unmanifest, eternal, imperishable reality; all beings arise from it and dissolve again, while that source itself remains unchanged.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on higher dharma and liberation-oriented knowledge; here he describes the unmanifest principle as the origin of all beings and the backdrop to their continual cycle of birth and death.