Shloka 41
मनु-उपदेशः — भूत-उत्पत्ति, इन्द्रिय-निवृत्ति, तथा पर-स्वभाव-विवेकः
Manu’s Instruction on Elemental Origination, Sense-Withdrawal, and Discrimination of the Supreme Nature
न गुणा विदुरात्मानं स गुणान् वेत्ति सर्वश: । परिद्रष्टा गुणानां तु संसृष्टान्मन्यते तथा,सत्त्व आदि गुण जड होनेके कारण आत्माको नहीं जानते; किंतु आत्मा चेतन है, इसलिये वह गुणोंको सब प्रकारसे जानता है। यद्यपि आत्मा गुणोंका साक्षी है, अत: उनसे सर्वथा भिन्न है तो भी वह अपनेको उन गुणोंसे संयुक्त मानता है
bhīṣma uvāca | na guṇā vidur ātmānaṃ sa guṇān vetti sarvaśaḥ | paridraṣṭā guṇānāṃ tu saṃsṛṣṭān manyate tathā ||
Bhishma said: The material qualities do not know the Self; but the Self knows the qualities in every way. Yet, though the Self is the witness of the qualities and therefore wholly distinct from them, it still comes to regard itself as mixed and entangled with those qualities.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes the conscious Self (ātman) from the unconscious guṇas of nature: the guṇas cannot know the Self, while the Self can know and witness the guṇas. Bondage arises when the Self mistakenly identifies as ‘mixed’ with these qualities; liberation follows from recognizing oneself as the witness, distinct from them.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and right understanding after the war, Bhishma continues his philosophical counsel, explaining to the listener the relation between consciousness and material nature, and how misidentification with the guṇas leads to saṃsāra.