Shloka 40
पृथग्भूतौ प्रकृत्या तौ सम्प्रयुक्तौ च सर्वदा । यथा मत्स्यो जलं॑ चैव सम्प्रयुक्तो तथैव तौ,ये दोनों स््वभावसे ही अलग-अलग हैं तो भी सदा एक-दूसरेसे मिले रहते हैं। ठीक वैसे ही, जैसे मछली और जल एक-दूसरेसे पृथक् होकर भी परस्पर संयुक्त रहते हैं। यही स्थिति बुद्धि और आत्माकी भी है
pṛthagbhūtau prakṛtyā tau samprayuktau ca sarvadā | yathā matsyo jalaṃ caiva samprayukto tathaiva tau ||
Bhīṣma explains that though the two are distinct by their very nature, they remain perpetually conjoined. Just as a fish and water are different entities yet inseparably associated in lived reality, so too are the self (ātman) and the inner instrument such as intellect (buddhi): distinct in essence, yet functioning together in embodied experience.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches discernment: the self (ātman) and intellect/mind (buddhi) are inherently distinct, yet in embodied life they operate in constant conjunction. Recognizing this helps one act in dharma without mistaking mental functions for the true self.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on philosophical and ethical foundations after the war. Here he uses the fish-and-water analogy to clarify how two different principles can remain inseparably associated in lived experience.