Shloka 18
अस्पर्शनमशृण्वानमनास्वादमदर्शनम् । अप्राणमवितर्क च सत्त्वं प्रविशते परम्,परब्रह्म परमात्मा स्पर्श, श्रवण, रसन, दर्शन, प्राण और संकल्प-विकल्पसे भी रहित है; इसलिये केवल विशुद्ध बुद्धि ही उसमें प्रवेश कर पाती है
asparśanam aśṛṇvānamanāsvādam adarśanam | aprāṇam avitarkaṃ ca sattvaṃ praviśate param, parabrahma paramātmā sparśa-śravaṇa-rasana-darśana-prāṇa-saṅkalpa-vikalpa-se bhī rahita hai; isaliye kevala viśuddha buddhi hī usameṃ praviśa kar pātī hai |
Bhishma explains that the Supreme Reality—Param Brahman, the Paramatman—lies beyond the reach of sensory contact, hearing, taste, and sight, and is also beyond the ordinary operations of breath and discursive thought. Therefore, it is only a purified, lucid intelligence (sattva/śuddha buddhi), freed from sense-driven agitation and mental wavering, that can enter into and realize that highest principle.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Supreme (Parabrahman/Paramatman) is not an object of the senses or of discursive thought; realization requires a purified, sattvic intellect that is free from sensory dependence and from saṅkalpa–vikalpa (mental wavering).
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on liberation and right understanding, Bhishma continues advising Yudhishthira by describing the transcendence of the Supreme Self and the inner discipline—purification of mind/intellect—needed to realize it.