Shloka 116
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
येयं प्रकृतिरव्यक्ता कलाभिरवव्यक्ततां गता । अहं च त्वं च राजेन्द्र ये चाप्यन्ये शरीरिण:
yeyaṁ prakṛtir avyaktā kalābhir avyaktatāṁ gatā | ahaṁ ca tvaṁ ca rājendra ye cāpy anye śarīriṇaḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：“此元初之自然，虽其自身不显，却因其诸分（kalā）而入于显现之境。且我与你，王中之最胜者，以及一切有身之众生——亦皆与此过程相系相缚。”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma points to a Sāṅkhya-style insight: the world of bodies and persons is tied to prakṛti, which is subtle and unmanifest in its root form yet becomes expressed through its constituent aspects. Recognizing this helps cultivate detachment and discernment about what is truly permanent versus what is a product of nature’s transformations.
In the Śānti Parva’s post-war instruction, Bhīṣma continues advising the king (Yudhiṣṭhira). Here he frames the discussion in metaphysical terms, reminding the ruler that all embodied beings—including speaker and listener—participate in the same natural process of manifestation, a perspective meant to steady the mind and guide ethical governance.