Shloka 5
Chapter 43: Tumult of Battle-Sounds and the Proliferation of Dvandva
Paired Engagements
सम्बन्ध-- अब उपर्युक्त प्रकारसे आदिपुरुष परमपदस्वरूप परमेश्वरकी शरण होकर उसको प्राप्त हो जानेवाले पुरुषोंके लक्षण बतलाये जाते हैं-- निर्मानमोहा: जितसड्भदोषा३ अध्यात्मनित्याः विनिवृत्तकामा: | दब्दैविमुक्ता: सुखदु:खसंज्ञै- गच्छन्त्यमूढा: पदमव्ययं तत्
nirmānamohā jitasaṅgadoṣā adhyātmanityā vinivṛttakāmāḥ | dvandvair vimuktāḥ sukhaduḥkhasaṃjñair gacchanty amūḍhāḥ padam avyayaṃ tat ||
Those whose pride and delusion have fallen away, who have conquered the fault of clinging attachment, who abide steadily in the Self, and whose desires have fully ceased—those clear-sighted knowers, freed from the pairs of opposites called pleasure and pain, go to that imperishable supreme state. Ethically, the verse defines liberation not as escape from duty but as inner freedom: the end of ego, attachment, and craving, and equanimity amid life’s dualities.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberation is characterized by the dissolution of ego and delusion, victory over attachment, steady abidance in the Self, cessation of craving, and freedom from the pleasure–pain duality; such clear-minded persons attain the imperishable supreme state.
In the midst of the Mahabharata war setting (Bhishma Parva), the teaching turns inward: the verse describes the qualities of those who, taking refuge in the Supreme, become fit to attain the highest imperishable goal—highlighting inner renunciation and equanimity rather than external circumstance.