Shloka 13
दमप्रशंसा — Praise of Self-Restraint
Dama
तद् बीज॑ देहिनामाहुस्तद् बीज॑ जीवसंज्ञितम् । कर्मणा कालयुक्तेन संसारपरिवर्तनम्
tad bījaṁ dehinām āhus tad bījaṁ jīva-saṁjñitam | karmaṇā kāla-yuktena saṁsāra-parivartanam ||
Bhishma said: “That (subtle Self) is declared to be the seed of embodied beings; that very seed is known by the name ‘jīva’ when associated with the constituents of nature (guṇas). Driven by action conjoined with Time, it keeps turning within the revolving cycle of worldly existence.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies the subtle Self as the causal ‘seed’ of embodied life. When that Self is associated with the guṇas (qualities of nature), it is spoken of as the jīva, and under the impulse of karma operating within time, it continues to revolve through saṁsāra.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhīṣma is teaching Yudhiṣṭhira about the metaphysical basis of bondage: how the individual self, conditioned by guṇas, is propelled by time-linked actions into repeated worldly cycles.