Shloka 8

इन्द्र–बलि संवादः

The Dialogue of Indra and Bali on Fortune, Humility, and Restraint

Devanagari script

संस्काराणामसंख्यानां कामात्मा तदवाप्नुयात्‌ । मनस्यन्तर्तितं सर्व स वेदोत्तमपूरुष:,कामनाओंमें जिसका मन आसक्त है, वह पुरुष स्वप्नमें असंख्य संस्कारोंके अनुसार अनेक दृश्योंको देखता है। वे समस्त संस्कार उसके मनमें ही छिपे रहते हैं, जिन्हें वह सर्वश्रेष्ठ अन्तर्यामी पुरुष परमात्मा जानता है

Transliteration

saṃskārāṇām asaṅkhyānāṃ kāmātmā tad avāpnuyāt | manasy antarhitaṃ sarvaṃ sa vedottama-pūruṣaḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma sprach: Ein Mensch, dessen Geist vom Begehren getrieben ist, erfährt im Traum unzählige Eindrücke (saṃskāras) und die vielen Bilder, die aus ihnen hervorgehen. All diese Eindrücke liegen im Geist selbst verborgen; der höchste innere Lenker—die erhabenste Person, wie sie durch die Veden erkannt wird—kennt sie alle.

Word by Word

• {'saṃskārāṇām': 'of mental impressions, latent traces formed by past experience and action', 'asaṅkhyānām': 'countless, innumerable', 'kāmātmā': 'one whose nature/mind is dominated by desire', 'tad avāpnuyāt': 'would attain/encounter that (i.e., those experiences)', 'manasi': 'in the mind', 'antarhitam': 'hidden, concealed, latent', 'sarvam': 'all, the entirety', 'saḥ': 'he

• that (Supreme one)', 'veda': 'the Veda

• sacred knowledge', 'uttama-pūruṣaḥ': 'the highest Person

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• uttama-pūruṣa (Paramātman, Antaryāmin)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Desire-driven consciousness replays and recombines latent impressions (saṃskāras), especially in dreams; these hidden tendencies remain within the mind, yet the Supreme Inner Ruler (uttama-pūruṣa/Paramātman) fully knows them, implying ethical vigilance over desire and mental conditioning.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s instruction discourse in the Śānti Parva, he explains how innumerable past impressions stored in the mind manifest as dream-experiences for a desire-oriented person, while affirming that the supreme indwelling Lord knows all those concealed impressions.