Shloka 4
वही मनुष्य हिलते हुए जलमें जैसे अपना रूप नहीं देख पाता, उसी प्रकार मनसहित इन्द्रियोंके चंचल होनेपर वह बुद्धिमें ज्ञेयस्वरूप आत्माका दर्शन नहीं कर सकता ।। अबुद्धिरज्ञानकृता अबुद्धा कृष्यते मन: । दुष्टस्य मनस: पठ्च सम्प्रदुष्यन्ति मानसा:,अविवेकसे बुद्धि भ्रष्ट हो जाती है और उस भ्रष्ट बुद्धिसे मन राग आदि दोषोंमें फँस जाता है। इस प्रकार मनके दूषित होनेसे उसके अधीन रहनेवाली पाँचों ज्ञानेन्द्रियाँ भी दूषित हो जाती हैं
bhīṣma uvāca | yathā calati jale manuṣyaḥ svam ātmānaṃ (rūpaṃ) na paśyati, tathā manasā saha indriyāṇāṃ cañcalatve buddhyā jñeyasvarūpaṃ ātmānaṃ na paśyati || abuddhir ajñānakṛtā; abuddhayā manaḥ kṛṣyate | duṣṭasya manasaḥ pañca (indriyāṇi) manasā saha saṃpraduṣyanti ||
Bhishma said: Just as a person cannot see his own reflection in water that is shaking, so too, when the mind and the senses are restless, one cannot behold within the intellect (buddhi) the Self (Atman), whose nature is the true object of knowledge. When discernment (viveka) is ruined by ignorance, the intellect becomes perverted, and through that perverted intellect the mind is dragged into faults such as attachment and passion. When the mind is corrupted, the five sense-faculties that move under its command are corrupted as well. Thus inner steadiness and clear discrimination are prerequisites for self-knowledge and ethical self-mastery.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Self-knowledge requires inner steadiness: when the mind and senses are restless, the intellect cannot clearly ‘see’ the Self. Ignorance damages discernment (buddhi), which then lets the mind fall into attachment and other faults; a corrupted mind in turn corrupts the senses, leading to ethical and spiritual decline.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and inner discipline. Here he uses a vivid analogy—one cannot see one’s reflection in trembling water—to explain why a disturbed mind and senses prevent realization of the Atman, and how ignorance-driven loss of discrimination cascades into moral and perceptual corruption.