Shloka 26
प्रजापतयः देवगणाश्च दिशि-दिशि स्थिताः ऋषयः
Prajāpatis, Deva-Groups, and the Ṛṣis Assigned to the Directions
रसैविंमुक्तं विविधैश्व गन्धै- रशब्दमस्पर्शमरूपवच्च । अग्राह्मुमव्यक्तमवर्णमेक॑ पज्चप्रकारान् ससृजे प्रजानाम्
rasair vimuktaṁ vividhaiś ca gandhair aśabdam asparśam arūpavat ca | agrāhyam avyaktam avarṇam ekaṁ pañca-prakārān sasṛje prajānām ||
Bhishma sprach: „Jene Wirklichkeit ist frei von allen Geschmäcken und von jeder Art von Duft. Sie ist ohne Klang, ohne Berührung und ohne Gestalt. Weder Geist, noch Verstand, noch Sprache können sie erfassen; sie ist unmanifest, eins ohne ein Zweites, jenseits von Farbe und Beschreibung. Und doch gehen aus eben dieser unaussprechlichen Quelle, zum Wohl der Wesen, die fünf Gegenstände der Erfahrung hervor: Form, Geschmack, Geruch, Berührung und Klang.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The supreme principle is beyond the senses and beyond mental or verbal grasp—formless, unmanifest, and non-dual—yet it is the source from which the five sense-objects (sound, touch, form, taste, smell) arise. Ethically, it points to detachment: do not mistake sensory qualities for the ultimate, even though they appear within it.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on liberation and right understanding, Bhishma continues his discourse to Yudhishthira by describing the nature of the highest Reality and explaining how the world of sensory experience proceeds from what is itself beyond all sensory attributes.