Shloka 12
आदिमध्यावसानानां ज्ञातारश्छिन्नसंशया: । परावरविशेषज्ञा गन्तार: परमां गतिम्,ब्राह्मण आदि, मध्य और अन्तके ज्ञाता, संशयरहित, भूत-भविष्यका विशेष ज्ञान रखनेवाले तथा परम गतिको जानने और पानेवाले हैं
ādimadhyāvasānānāṁ jñātāraś chinnasaṁśayāḥ | parāvaraviśeṣajñā gantāraḥ paramāṁ gatim ||
Bhishma said: “The Brahmanas are those who know the beginnings, the middles, and the ends (of things); whose doubts have been cut away; who discern the distinctions between the higher and the lower (between the supreme and the mundane); and who know—and attain—the highest goal.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
True spiritual authority is defined by complete understanding (origin–process–end), freedom from doubt, and discriminative insight into the higher and lower; such persons both know and attain the supreme goal.
In Bhishma’s instruction within the Anushasana Parva, he characterizes the ideal Brahmana as a realized knower—one whose certainty and discernment qualify him to reach the highest state.