Shloka 36
अव्यक्त–पुरुष–विवेकः (Discrimination of Avyakta/Prakṛti and Puruṣa) — Yājñavalkya’s Anvīkṣikī to Viśvāvasu
अर्थतत्त्वके ज्ञाता पुरुषको यह जानना चाहिये कि प्रलयकालमें प्रकृतिमें भी एकता और सृष्टिकालमें अनेकता रहती है। इसी प्रकार पुरुष भी प्रलयकालमें एक ही रहता है; किंतु सृष्टिकालमें प्रकृतिका प्रेरक होनेके कारण उसमें नानात्वका आरोप हो जाता है ।।
arthatattvake jñātā puruṣako yaḥ jñātum icchati sa jñātavyam—pralayakāle prakṛtau api ekatā, sṛṣṭikāle ca anekatā vartate. evam eva puruṣaḥ pralayakāle eka eva; kintu sṛṣṭikāle prakṛteḥ prerakatvāt tasmin nānātvasyāropaḥ bhavati. bahudhā ātmā prakurvīta prakṛtiṃ prasavātmikām; tac ca kṣetraṃ mahān ātmā pañcaviṃśo ’dhi tiṣṭhati.
瓦西什塔说道：知晓实相之真者当明白：于坏灭之时，连自性（Prakṛti）亦处于一味之境；而于创生之时，它显为多端。同样，普鲁沙（Puruṣa）在坏灭时仍是一；但在创生时，由于他推动自性，种种差别便被加诸其上。自我仿佛使那具生发之性的自性展开。此“田”——自性及其诸变相——名为刹帝罗（kṣetra，境域）；而在此田中，大我——异于二十四原理的第二十五原理——以主宰之见证者而安住。
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Unity and multiplicity belong to the phases of manifestation: in dissolution, Prakṛti is undifferentiated and Puruṣa is one; in creation, Prakṛti unfolds into many forms, and diversity is only superimposed on the one Puruṣa because he is regarded as the impeller/presiding witness of Prakṛti.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation-oriented philosophy, Vasiṣṭha explains a Sāṅkhya-style distinction between Prakṛti (the field and its evolutes) and the Puruṣa/mahān ātmā (the twenty-fifth principle) who abides in that field as overseer, clarifying how apparent plurality arises during creation.