Shloka 5
Śiva-nāmānukīrtana-prastāvaḥ
Prologue to the praise of Śiva and the Upamanyu testimony
प्रकृतीनां परत्वेन पुरुषस्य च य: पर: । चिन्त्यते यो योगविद्धिर््रषिभिस्तत्त्वदर्शिभि: । अक्षरं परम॑ ब्रह्म असच्च सदसच्च य:
prakṛtīnāṁ paratvena puruṣasya ca yaḥ paraḥ | cintyate yo yogaviddhir ṛṣibhis tattvadarśibhiḥ | akṣaraṁ paramaṁ brahma asac ca sad asac ca yaḥ ||
Bhīṣma sprach: Jene höchste Wirklichkeit—höher als die (drei) Bestandteile der Natur und auch den einzelnen Puruṣa übersteigend—die die Yoga-Kundigen und Wahrheitsseher unter den Weisen betrachten: das ist das Unvergängliche, das höchste Brahman, als jenseits von Nichtsein und Sein beschrieben und doch beide umfassend.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse points to the Imperishable Supreme Brahman as the ultimate reality, transcending both Nature (prakṛti) and the individual spirit (puruṣa), and described as beyond the ordinary categories of being (sat) and non-being (asat).
Bhīṣma, instructing on higher dharma and spiritual understanding, identifies the supreme principle contemplated by truth-seeing sages and yoga-knowers, framing ethical life within a metaphysical vision of the highest Brahman.