Shloka 35
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
प्रकृत्या सर्वमेवेदं जगदन्धीकृतं विभो । रजसा तमसा चैव व्याप्तं सर्वमनेकधा
prakṛtyā sarvam evedaṃ jagad andhīkṛtaṃ vibho | rajasā tamasā caiva vyāptaṃ sarvam anekadhā ||
婆悉吒说道：“大力者啊，正是原质（prakṛti）使这整个世界仿佛陷于盲昧。由于与她相系，万物以种种方式为激性（rajas）与暗性（tamas）所遍满。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that worldly perception and conduct are obscured by prakṛti and especially by rajas and tamas. Ethical clarity and right judgment are difficult when the mind is dominated by passion/restlessness (rajas) and darkness/inertia (tamas); one must cultivate discernment to see beyond this obscuration.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Vasiṣṭha is explaining to his interlocutor that the universe and embodied experience are conditioned by prakṛti and the guṇas. He frames human confusion and moral error as arising from the pervasive influence of rajas and tamas.