Shanti Parva Adhyaya 211 Shloka 4 - Mahabharata | Chinese | Vedapath

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Shloka 4

जनकस्य मोक्षमार्गप्रश्नः तथा पञ्चशिखोपदेश-प्रस्तावः | Janaka’s Path to Liberation: Prelude to Pañcaśikha’s Instruction

Devanagari script

तद्वदव्यक्तजा भावा: कर्तु: कारणलक्षणा: । अचेतनाश्रेतयितु: कारणादभिसंहता:

Transliteration

tadvad avyaktajā bhāvāḥ kartuḥ kāraṇalakṣaṇāḥ | acetanāśrayetayuḥ kāraṇād abhisaṃhatāḥ ||

Translation

毗湿摩说：同样，由未显而生的诸种状态与原理，虽其自身无知觉，却具因果之相；当它们汇聚为行者之器具时，因依附并联系于有觉知的依处，便成为认知等行为的原因。

Word by Word

तद्वत्likewise, in the same way

अव्यक्तजाborn from the unmanifest

भावाःentities; states; principles

कर्तुःof the doer/agent

कारणलक्षणाःhaving the mark/nature of a cause

अचेतनाःnon-sentient, insentient

श्रेतयितुःof the one who makes (them) resort/attach (i.e., the conscious principle as the one causing association)

कारणात्from the cause; due to the cause

अभिसंहताःbrought together; consolidated; combined

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Principles arising from the Unmanifest (prakṛti) are inert by themselves, yet when associated with a conscious substratum (the self/puruṣa) and combined as instruments, they function as causes for cognition and other activities.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Bhishma continues explaining how the world-process works: insentient constituents derived from the Unmanifest become operative only through their relation to consciousness, thereby enabling knowing and action.