Shloka 9
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
वासुदेव: परमिदं विश्व॒स्य ब्रह्मणो मुखम् । सत्यं ज्ञानमथो यज्ञस्तितिक्षा दम आर्जवम्
vāsudevaḥ param idaṃ viśvasya brahmaṇo mukham | satyaṃ jñānam atho yajñas titikṣā dama ārjavam |
Bhīṣma sprach: „Vāsudeva ist der höchste Ursprung und das eigentliche ‚Antlitz‘—die vornehmste Erscheinung—des Weltalls und des Brahman. Wahrhaftigkeit, geistige Erkenntnis, Opfer (yajña), Duldsamkeit, Selbstzucht und Geradheit: Diese Tugenden und das höchste Prinzip, auf das sie weisen, sind ihrem Wesen nach Vāsudeva selbst.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
All cardinal virtues—truth, knowledge, sacrifice, endurance, self-control, and integrity—are not merely human qualities but expressions of the Supreme; recognizing Vāsudeva as their ground unifies ethics with devotion and metaphysics.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhīṣma teaches Yudhiṣṭhira by identifying Vāsudeva (Krishna) as the highest reality and as the source and essence of the principal dharmic virtues.