Shloka 85

Devanagari script

अत्रापि तत्त्वं परमं शृणु सम्यड मयेरितम्‌ । बुद्धिश्च॒ परमा यत्र कापिलानां महात्मनाम्‌,इस विषयमें भी जो परम तत्त्व है, उसे मैं भलीभाँति बता रहा हूँ, सुनो। यहाँ कपिलजीके द्वारा प्रतिपादित सांख्यमतका अनुसरण करनेवाले महात्मा पुरुषोंका जो उत्तम विचार है, वही प्रस्तुत किया जाता है

Transliteration

atrāpi tattvaṁ paramaṁ śṛṇu samyag mayeritām | buddhiś ca paramā yatra kāpilānāṁ mahātmanām ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: «Auch hier höre aufmerksam zu, während ich die höchste Wahrheit darlege. In dieser Angelegenheit werde ich jene erhabenste Unterscheidungskraft vortragen, die die großgesinnten Anhänger Kapilas hochhalten—ein Verständnis, das die Wirklichkeit erhellt und zu rechtem Handeln führt.»

Word by Word

• {'atra api': 'here also

• in this context too', 'tattvam': 'truth

• reality as it is', 'paramam': 'supreme

• highest', 'śṛṇu': 'listen (imperative)', 'samyak': 'properly

• thoroughly', 'mayā īritam (mayeritam)': 'spoken/declared by me', 'buddhiḥ': 'intellect

• decisive understanding', 'paramā': 'supreme

• excellent', 'yatra': 'wherein

• in which (doctrine/context)', 'kāpilānām': 'of Kapila’s (followers)

• pertaining to Kapila/Sāṅkhya', 'mahātmanām': 'of great-souled ones

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Kapila
• Kapila’s followers (Sankhya adherents)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma introduces the ‘highest truth’ (parama-tattva) and the ‘supreme discernment’ (paramā buddhi) associated with Kapila’s Sāṅkhya tradition, signaling a shift toward philosophical clarification of reality as a basis for right living and liberation-oriented ethics.

What is happening in the narrative?

Within the Shanti Parva’s instruction to the king, Bhishma continues his discourse and announces that he will now present a refined doctrinal viewpoint—specifically the elevated understanding attributed to the great sages aligned with Kapila—preparing the listener for a systematic philosophical exposition.