Shloka 31
Śānti-parva 206: Guṇa-hetu Moha, Kāma-krodha Chain, Indriya-utpatti, and Nirodha
इस भूतलपर रहनेवाला मनुष्य यद्यपि इस पृथ्वीका अन्त नहीं देखता है तो भी कहीं- न-कहीं इसका अन्त अवश्य है, ऐसा समझो। जैसे समुद्रमें लहरोंद्वारा ऊपर-नीचे होते हुए जहाजको प्रवाहके अनुकूल बहती हुई हवा तटपर लगा देती है, उसी प्रकार संसारसमुद्रमें गोता लगाते हुए मनुष्यको अनुकूल वातावरण संसारसागरसे पार कर देता है ।। दिवाकरो गुणमुपलभ्य निर्गुणो यथा भवेदपगतरश्मिमण्डल: । तथा हासौ मुनिरिह निर्विशेषवान् स निर्गुणं प्रविशति ब्रह्म चाव्ययम्,सम्पूर्ण जगत्का प्रकाशक सूर्य प्रकाशरूपी गुणको पाकर भी अस्ताचलको जाते समय अपने किरणसमूहको समेटकर जैसे निर्गुण हो जाता है, उसी प्रकार भेदभावसे रहित हुआ मुनि यहाँ अविनाशी निर्गुण ब्रह्ममें प्रवेश कर जाता है
bhīṣma uvāca |
ayaṁ bhūtale paryavasthito manuṣyo yady api pṛthivyā antaṁ na paśyati tathāpi kvacid asyā antaḥ avaśyam asti—iti budhyasva | yathā samudre taraṅgair ūrdhva-adhastād bhavann api nauḥ pravāhānukūlayā vāyunā taṭe pratiṣṭhāpyate, tathā saṁsāra-samudre nimajjan manuṣyaḥ anukūlena vātena saṁsāra-sāgarāt pāraṁ nīyate ||
divākaro guṇam upalabhya nirguṇo yathā bhaved apagata-raśmi-maṇḍalaḥ |
tathā hāsau munir iha nirviśeṣavān sa nirguṇaṁ praviśati brahma cāvyayam ||
Bhīṣma said: Even if a man living on this earth does not see the end of the earth, understand that somewhere its end surely exists. Just as a ship in the ocean, rising and falling with the waves, is nevertheless carried by a favorable wind in harmony with the current and brought to the shore, so too a person who plunges into the ocean of worldly existence is carried across the sea of saṁsāra by a conducive spiritual atmosphere. As the sun, though it possesses the quality of light, becomes as it were ‘quality-less’ when it sets—drawing in its circle of rays—so the sage here, having become free of distinctions, enters the imperishable, attributeless Brahman.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid the turbulence of worldly life, liberation is possible when conditions become spiritually favorable—through right orientation, discipline, and insight. Ultimately, the sage transcends all distinctions and realizes the imperishable, attributeless Brahman (nirguṇa brahman).
In the Shanti Parva discourse, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on liberation-oriented wisdom. He uses two images: a ship carried to shore by a favorable wind despite waves, and the sun withdrawing its rays at sunset, to illustrate how the realized sage becomes free of limiting attributes and merges into Brahman.