Shloka 43

Śrī–Indra–Bali Saṃvāda: The Departure and Fourfold Placement of Lakṣmī

Devanagari script

इति सम्यड्मनस्येते बहव: सन्ति हेतव: । एतदस्तीदमस्तीति न किज्वचित्प्रतिदृश्यते,इस प्रकार मनमें अनेक प्रकारके तर्क उठते हैं और उन तर्कों तथा युक्तियोंसे आत्माकी सत्ता या असत्ताका निर्धारण कुछ भी होता नहीं दिखायी देता

Transliteration

iti samyaṅ-manasy ete bahavaḥ santi hetavaḥ | etad astīdam astīti na kiñcit kvacit pratidṛśyate ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „So erheben sich, wenn der Geist zur Prüfung ansetzt, viele Arten von Begründungen. Doch aus diesen Argumenten und Gegenargumenten ist nirgends klar zu erkennen, was entscheidend feststellte: ‚Dies ist‘ oder ‚Dies ist nicht‘—zumal in Bezug auf das Selbst. Darum soll man bloßen Streit nicht für wahre Einsicht halten.“

Word by Word

इतिthus

सम्यक्properly, rightly

मनसिin the mind

एतेthese

बहवःmany

सन्तिare, exist

हेतवःreasons, causes

एतत्this

अस्तिis, exists

इदम्this

अस्तिis, exists

इतिthus (quoting)

नnot

किञ्चित्anything, something (here: anything at all)

क्वचित्anywhere, in any case

प्रतिदृश्यतेis seen, appears, is perceived

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma highlights the limits of purely intellectual argument: many reasons can be produced on both sides, yet they may not yield decisive perception of truth—especially about the self. True understanding requires more than debate; it calls for deeper discernment and reliable means of knowledge.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhishma continues his philosophical counsel, cautioning that mental disputation generates numerous arguments but does not by itself settle the question of existence or non-existence (notably of the self).