Shloka 29
अध्याय ३३७ — ज्ञानमार्ग-वैविध्यप्रश्नः तथा व्यासस्य नारायणोद्भवकथा
Systems of Knowledge and Vyāsa’s Nārāyaṇa-Origin
ते सहस्रार्चिषं देवं प्रविशन्ति सनातनम् | अनिन्द्रिया निराहारा अनिष्पन्दा: सुगन्धिन:
te sahasrārciṣaṃ devaṃ praviśanti sanātanam | anindriyā nirāhārā aniṣpandāḥ sugandhinaḥ ||
Bhīṣma sprach: Frei vom Zug der Sinne, ohne Nahrung zu bedürfen und in völliger Regungslosigkeit verharrend, werden sie duftend an Leib und Wesen. So gereinigt und standhaft treten sie ein in den Ewigen Gott, die tausendstrahlige Gottheit, und verschmelzen mit der höchsten, zeitlosen Wirklichkeit — als Vollendung des disziplinierten Lebens und der Hingabe.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents liberation as the fruit of profound inner discipline: transcending sense-impulses, loosening bodily dependence (symbolized by being 'without food'), and attaining unwavering stillness. Such purity and one-pointedness culminate in 'entering' the Eternal, radiant Divine—an image for final union with the supreme reality.
In Bhishma’s instruction during the Shanti Parva, he describes the state and destiny of perfected practitioners. He portrays their transformed condition—sense-transcendence, cessation of restless motion, and a sanctified fragrance—and then states their ultimate end: they enter the timeless, thousand-rayed God.