Shloka 38
नारद–शुक संवादः
Impermanence, Svabhāva, and Śuka’s Resolve for Yoga
गन्धर्वपते! आपने जो विश्वा और अविश्व इत्यादि कहकर यह प्रश्नावली उपस्थित की है, उसमें विश्वा अव्यक्त प्रकृतिका नाम है। यह संसार-बन्धनमें डालनेवाली होनेके कारण भूत, भविष्य और वर्तमान तीनों कालोंमें भयंकर है--इस बातको आप अच्छी तरह समझ लें।।
Gandharvapate! āpane yo viśvā aviśva ityādī kahakara yaḥ praśnāvalī upasthita kī hai, usameṃ viśvā avyaktaprakṛtikā nāma hai. yaha saṃsāra-bandhana meṃ ḍālanevālī hone ke kāraṇa bhūta, bhaviṣya aura vartamāna tīnoṃ kāloṃ meṃ bhayaṅkara hai—isa bāta ko āpa acchī taraha samajha leṃ. triguṇaṃ guṇakartṛtvād aviśvo niṣkalas tathā | aśvaśnāśvā ca mithunam evam evānudṛśyate ||
阎若婆迦说道：“甘达婆之主啊！在你以‘毗湿瓦（Viśvā）’与‘阿毗湿瓦（Aviśva）’等名相提出的一连串问题中，当知‘毗湿瓦’乃无显的普拉克里蒂（Prakṛti，自性）之名。由于它使众生堕入轮回（saṃsāra）之系缚，故于过去、未来、现在三世皆可怖；务须明了。它以三德（tri-guṇa）而成三相；又因它作为能生三德果用之作者，故称‘阿毗湿瓦’；并且它亦为‘无分’（niṣkala）。它被见为对待之双相——马与非马——如是而被认知。”
याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies ‘Viśvā’ with unmanifest Prakṛti, portraying it as the source of saṃsāric bondage across all time. It further characterizes this principle as tri-guṇa (structured by the three guṇas), yet in another sense ‘niṣkala’ (undivided), and explains that it is apprehended through paired opposites in experience.
In Śānti Parva’s philosophical instruction, Yājñavalkya responds to the Gandharva-lord’s set of questions about terms like ‘Viśvā’ and ‘Aviśva.’ He clarifies the referents of these terms and frames them within a Prakṛti/guṇa-based analysis of how the world is experienced and how bondage arises.