Shloka 8
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
गुरुउ्वाच शृणु शिष्य महाप्राज्ञ ब्रह्मगुह्ममिदं परम् । अध्यात्मं सर्वविद्यानामागमानां च यद्धसु
guruḥ uvāca: śṛṇu śiṣya mahāprājña brahma-guhyam idaṁ param | adhyātmaṁ sarva-vidyānām āgamānāṁ ca yad dhruvam || atha yad-yad yadā bhāti kāla-yogād yugādiṣu | tat-tad utpadyate jñānaṁ loka-yātrā-vidhāna-jam ||
Der Lehrer sprach: „Höre, o Schüler von großer Einsicht. Was du gefragt hast, ist das höchste und geheime Mysterium Brahmans. Es ist das Prinzip des inneren Selbst (adhyātma), der feste Kern aller Wissenszweige und der heiligen Überlieferungen. Und was immer zu welcher Zeit erscheint—durch die Fügung der Zeit, an den Anfängen der Weltzeitalter—, das entsprechende Wissen entsteht immer wieder von Neuem, hervorgebracht aus der Ordnung des Weltlaufs und den Bedürfnissen der Lebewesen.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies adhyātma—knowledge of the inner Self—as the supreme, hidden essence of Brahman and as the stable core of all learning and scriptural traditions. It also teaches a cyclical view of history: as time turns and new ages begin, appropriate forms of knowledge re-manifest to sustain the world’s ongoing order (loka-yātrā).
A teacher addresses a highly intelligent disciple and begins an esoteric instruction. He frames the disciple’s question as touching the deepest Brahman-secret and then explains that knowledge appears in different ages according to the operation of time and the requirements of maintaining worldly life and order.