Shloka 28
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
वायोस्तेजस्ततश्चाप अद्भ्योडथ वसुधोद्गता । मूलप्रकृतयो हराष्टी जगदेतास्ववस्थितम्
vāyor tejas tataś cāpa adbhyō ’tha vasudhōdgatā | mūla-prakṛtayo ’ṣṭau proktā jagad etāsv avasthitam ||
毗湿摩阐明诸元素的生起次第：由风（vāyu）生火（tejas）；由火生水（āpas）；由水生地（pṛthvī）。这些被教示为八种根本原理（mūla-prakṛtis）之一部分，而整个世界据说便建立于这些根基成分之上。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a cosmological sequence of elemental manifestation—wind gives rise to fire, fire to water, and water to earth—and frames these as part of the eight root constituents (mūla-prakṛtis) on which the universe depends.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on philosophical foundations that support dharma and right understanding; here he outlines how the world is grounded in fundamental principles and elements.