Shloka 2

अव्यक्त–व्यक्त–कारणकार्यविवेकः

Avyakta–Vyakta and Causality: Discrimination of Field and Knower

Devanagari script

यथाम्भसि प्रसन्ने तु रूपं पश्यति चक्षुषा । तद्वव्प्रसन्नेन्द्रियत्वाउज्ञेयं ज्ञानेन पश्यति

Transliteration

yathāmbhasi prasanne tu rūpaṃ paśyati cakṣuṣā | tadvat prasannendriyatvāt jñeyaṃ jñānena paśyati ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „Wie ein Mensch mit den Augen in klarem, ruhigem Wasser ein deutliches Spiegelbild erblickt, so schaut er auch, wenn Geist und Sinne gereinigt und gefestigt sind, das Erkennbare Selbst durch die Schau wahren Wissens.“

Word by Word

• {'yathā': 'just as, in the same way', 'ambhasi': 'in water', 'prasanne': 'clear, tranquil, settled', 'tu': 'indeed, but (emphatic particle)', 'rūpam': 'form

• reflection/image', 'paśyati': 'sees, beholds', 'cakṣuṣā': 'with the eye(s)', 'tadvat': 'so, likewise', 'prasanna-indriyatvāt': 'because of the clarity/serenity of the senses (and by implication the mind)', 'jñeyam': 'the knowable

• the object to be known (here, the Self/Ātman)', 'jñānena': 'by knowledge

• through the faculty/vision of knowledge', 'ātman (implied)': 'the Self, inner reality'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• water (ambhas)
• eyes (cakṣus)
• senses (indriya)
• knowledge (jñāna)
• the knowable/Self (jñeya)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Self-realization depends on the clarity and steadiness of the inner instruments. When the senses (and mind) are tranquil and purified, knowledge can directly reveal the jñeya—the Self—just as a calm, clear surface reveals a reflection.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and liberation-oriented discipline. Here he uses a simple analogy—seeing one’s image in still water—to explain how inner serenity enables direct insight into the Self.