Shloka 10
अव्यक्त–व्यक्त–कारणकार्यविवेकः
Avyakta–Vyakta and Causality: Discrimination of Field and Knower
इन्द्रियेभ्यो मन: पूर्व बुद्धि: परतरा ततः । बुद्धेः परतरं ज्ञानं ज्ञानातू परतरं महत्,इन्द्रियोंसे मन श्रेष्ठ है, मनसे बुद्धि श्रेष्ठ है, बुद्धिसे ज्ञान श्रेष्ठठर है और ज्ञानसे परात्पर परमात्मा श्रेष्ठ है
indriyebhyo manaḥ pūrvaṁ buddhiḥ paratarā tataḥ | buddheḥ parataraṁ jñānaṁ jñānāt parataraṁ mahat ||
Bhishma said: “Beyond the senses stands the mind; beyond the mind stands the intellect. Beyond the intellect is true knowledge, and beyond knowledge is the Supreme Reality (the Great Self).”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches a graded inner ascent: senses are to be governed by mind, mind by discerning intellect, intellect by realized knowledge, and knowledge culminates in the Supreme Reality (mahat). Ethical life and liberation depend on moving from outward impulses to inward clarity and ultimate Self-realization.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction to Yudhishthira, Bhishma continues his discourse on dharma and the means to peace and liberation, presenting a concise hierarchy of human faculties to show how self-control and right understanding lead toward the highest Self.