Shloka 11
प्रजापतयः देवगणाश्च दिशि-दिशि स्थिताः ऋषयः
Prajāpatis, Deva-Groups, and the Ṛṣis Assigned to the Directions
इष्टं च मे स्यादितरच्च न स्या- देतत्कृते कर्मविधि: प्रवृत्त: । इष्ट त्वनिष्टं च न मां भजेते- त्येतत्कृते ज्ञानविधि: प्रवृत्त:,मनुने कहा--जिसको जो-जो विषय प्रिय होता है, वही उसके लिये सुखरूप बताया गया है और जो अप्रिय होता है, उसे ही दुःखरूप कहा गया है। मुझे इष्ट (प्रिय) की प्राप्ति हो और अनिष्टका निवारण हो जाय, इसीके लिये कर्मोंका अनुष्ठान आरम्भ किया गया है तथा इष्ट और अनिष्ट दोनों ही मुझे प्राप्त न हों, इसके लिये ज्ञानयोगका उपदेश किया गया है
iṣṭaṃ ca me syāditaracca na syād etat-kṛte karma-vidhiḥ pravṛttaḥ | iṣṭa tv aniṣṭaṃ ca na māṃ bhajetety etat-kṛte jñāna-vidhiḥ pravṛttaḥ ||
Bhishma said: ‘May what is desired come to me, and may what is other than that (the undesired) not come—toward this end the discipline of ritual action has been set in motion. But so that neither the desired nor the undesired may attach itself to me—toward this end the discipline of knowledge has been set in motion.’
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Two distinct aims are contrasted: karma (prescribed action) is pursued to obtain the desired and avoid the undesired, whereas jñāna (wisdom) is taught so that one transcends both—becoming free from attachment to outcomes and from the dualities of pleasure and pain.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he explains, with reference to Manu’s viewpoint, why disciplines of action and knowledge are taught: action for managing worldly outcomes, and knowledge for liberation from outcome-dependence itself.