Shloka 15
Adhyāya 353 — Kathā-prāmāṇya (Authority of Transmission) and the Brāhmaṇa’s Ascetic Resolve
न लिप्यते फलैक्षापि पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा | कर्मात्मा त्वपरो यो$सौ मोक्षबन्धै: स युज्यते
na lipyate phalaiṣkāpi padmapatram ivāmbhasā | karmātmā tv aparaḥ yo'sau mokṣabandhaiḥ sa yujyate ||
كما أنّ ورقةَ اللوتس، وإن استقرّت على الماء، لا يبتلّها الماء، كذلك يبقى الذاتُ الأعلى غيرَ متلطّخٍ بثمار الأفعال. أمّا الذاتُ الأخرى—وهي النفسُ الفردية التي تتوهّم أنّها الفاعل وتنسج صلاتٍ بالقيود والتحرّر—فإنّها متميّزةٌ عن ذلك الذاتِ الأعلى.
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the distinction between the Supreme Self, which is intrinsically unattached and unaffected by action-results, and the individual self that, through doership-identification, becomes entangled in notions of bondage and even liberation.
Bhīṣma (Pitāmaha), in his instruction during the Śānti Parva, uses the lotus-leaf analogy to explain metaphysical detachment and to clarify how the experience of bondage arises for the doer-self, not for the Supreme.