Shloka 6
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
कथं च सर्वभूतेषु समेषु द्विजसत्तम | सम्यग्वृत्ता निवर्तन्ते विपरीता: क्षयोदया:
kathaṁ ca sarvabhūteṣu sameṣu dvijasattama | samyagvṛttā nivartante viparītāḥ kṣayodayāḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：“噢，最胜的两生者！若大种（mahābhūta）——以地为首——处处皆同，而一切众生之身亦由这些大种所成，那么为何在众生之中会生起相反的境况：衰败与增长？依何种正当的次第，这些对立之相得以发生，又复消逝？”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a philosophical problem: if the material constituents (the great elements) are uniform everywhere, what accounts for unequal outcomes in embodied life—growth and decline? It points toward deeper causal principles beyond mere material sameness, such as differing combinations, conditions, time, and governing laws (dharma/niyati/karma) that regulate manifestation.
In the Śānti Parva’s instructional dialogue, Bhīṣma raises a probing question to a learned brāhmaṇa interlocutor. He challenges a simplistic material explanation of life by asking why opposite states—increase and decrease—appear among beings whose bodies are made from the same universal elements.