Mahabharata 6.39.12 — Bhishma Parva, Adhyaya 39, Shloka 12
Śraddhā–Guṇa–Vibhāga Yoga (Faith and the Three Guṇas) — Mahābhārata Book 6, Chapter 39
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत भीष्मपर्वके श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतापव॑के अन्तर्गत ब्रह्मविद्या और योगशासत्ररूप श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतोपनिषद्
jñeyaṁ yat tat pravakṣyāmi yaj jñātvāmṛtam aśnute | anādimat paraṁ brahma na sat tan nāsad ucyate ||
Arjuna sprach: „Nun will ich klar darlegen, was zu erkennen ist — wer es erkennt, erlangt Unsterblichkeit. Es ist das höchste Brahman, ohne Anfang; es wird beschrieben als weder ‘Sein’ (sat) noch ‘Nichtsein’ (asat).“
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse introduces the ‘knowable’ (jñeya)—the supreme, beginningless Brahman—knowledge of which yields immortality (amṛta). It also cautions that Brahman cannot be captured by ordinary categories of existence or non-existence, indicating a reality beyond conceptual extremes.
Within the Kurukṣetra dialogue, the teaching shifts from listing disciplines and qualities that lead to wisdom to defining the object of that wisdom: the ultimate reality to be known. The speaker signals a transition into a description of Brahman/Paramātman and the fruit of realizing it.
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