Shloka 17
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
यथर्र्तावृतुलिड्रानि नानारूपाणि पर्यये । दृश्यन्ते तानि तान्येव तथा भावा युगादिषु
yathārtāvṛtuliṅgāni nānārūpāṇi paryaye | dṛśyante tāni tānyeva tathā bhāvā yugādiṣu ||
毗湿摩说道：“正如四时之征，在循环往复中呈现种种形相，却又一次次被看作同样的季节标记；同样，存在的诸般境况也在相继的诸劫（yuga）中再度出现。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time and worldly conditions move in cycles: just as seasonal signs return in a fixed rhythm though appearing in varied forms, so do human and cosmic conditions recur across the yugas. This frames ethical reflection by reminding the listener that decline and renewal are patterned, not random.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on governance, dharma, and the nature of time. Here he uses the recurring seasons as an analogy to explain the repetition of conditions across successive ages (yugas).