Shloka 5
Śiva-nāmānukīrtana-prastāvaḥ
Prologue to the praise of Śiva and the Upamanyu testimony
प्रकृतीनां परत्वेन पुरुषस्य च य: पर: । चिन्त्यते यो योगविद्धिर््रषिभिस्तत्त्वदर्शिभि: । अक्षरं परम॑ ब्रह्म असच्च सदसच्च य:
prakṛtīnāṁ paratvena puruṣasya ca yaḥ paraḥ | cintyate yo yogaviddhir ṛṣibhis tattvadarśibhiḥ | akṣaraṁ paramaṁ brahma asac ca sad asac ca yaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: That Supreme Reality—higher than the (three) constituents of Nature and also transcending the individual person—which the sages who know Yoga and see the truth contemplate: that is the Imperishable, the highest Brahman, described as beyond both non-being and being, and yet encompassing both.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse points to the Imperishable Supreme Brahman as the ultimate reality, transcending both Nature (prakṛti) and the individual spirit (puruṣa), and described as beyond the ordinary categories of being (sat) and non-being (asat).
Bhīṣma, instructing on higher dharma and spiritual understanding, identifies the supreme principle contemplated by truth-seeing sages and yoga-knowers, framing ethical life within a metaphysical vision of the highest Brahman.