Shloka 7
मनस्–बुद्धि–गुणविचारः (Manas–Buddhi–Guṇa Inquiry) — Meditation and Nirguṇa Realization
अभयं चानिमित्तं च न तत् क्लेशसमावृतम् । द्वाभ्यां मुक्त त्रिभिर्मुक्तमष्टाभिस्त्रिभिरेव च,परमात्माका परमधाम विनाशके भयसे रहित है; क्योंकि वह कारणरहित नित्य-सिद्ध है। वह अविद्या, अस्मिता, राग, द्वेष और अभिनिवेश नामक पाँच क्लेशोंसे घिरा हुआ नहीं है। उसमें प्रिय और अप्रिय ये दो भाव नहीं हैं*। प्रिय और अप्रियके हेतुभूत तीन गुण--सत्त्व, रज और तम भी नहीं हैं तथा वह परमधाम भूत, इन्द्रिय, मन, बुद्धि, उपासना, कर्म, प्राण और अविद्या--इन आठ पुरियोंसे: भी मुक्त है। वहाँ ज्ञाता, ज्ञान और ज्ञेय--इस त्रिपुटीका भी अभाव है
abhayaṃ cānimittaṃ ca na tat kleśasamāvṛtam | dvābhyāṃ muktaṃ tribhir muktam aṣṭābhis tribhir eva ca ||
Bhishma said: That Supreme Reality is fearless and without any external cause; it is not veiled by afflictions. It is free from the pair of likes and dislikes; free from the three guṇas that generate such reactions; and free as well from the eightfold complex of embodied existence. There, even the triad of knower, knowing, and known does not obtain—thus it is taught as the highest abode beyond decay and fear.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse characterizes the Supreme as unconditioned and fearless: not obscured by kleśas, not driven by dualities (like/dislike), not constituted by the three guṇas, and transcending the structures of embodied experience—so completely that even the subject–object–knowledge triad is absent.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on liberation-oriented dharma. Here he describes the nature of the highest abode/Reality by negating layers of bondage—afflictions, dualities, guṇas, and cognitive triads—to guide the listener toward non-attached, discriminative understanding.