Shloka 29
अव्यक्त–पुरुष–विवेकः (Discrimination of Avyakta/Prakṛti and Puruṣa) — Yājñavalkya’s Anvīkṣikī to Viśvāvasu
एता: प्रकृतयश्चाष्टी विकाराश्चापि षोडश | पज्च चैव विशेषा वै तथा पउ्चेन्द्रियाणि च
etāḥ prakṛtayaś cāṣṭī vikārāś cāpi ṣoḍaśa | pañca caiva viśeṣā vai tathā pañcendriyāṇi ca ||
婆悉吒（Vasiṣṭha）说道：“此为八种本原原则（prakṛti），又有十六种变异所成之法（vikāra）。此外，更有五种‘殊别之体’（viśeṣa），亦有五种感官机能。是故，此教将真实分为根本之因与其显现之果，使人能辨自我与自然之域，松解对仅由聚合而成之物的执著。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a Sāṅkhya-style map of reality: eight foundational principles (prakṛtis) and sixteen evolutes (vikāras), with mention of five particularized entities (viśeṣas) and the five sense-faculties. The aim is discriminative knowledge—seeing what is produced and changeable as distinct from the witnessing self—supporting detachment and liberation.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Vasiṣṭha is expounding philosophical categories to clarify how the world of experience is constituted. He enumerates principles and their products as part of a broader counsel on inner peace and right understanding after the devastation of war.