Shloka 15
Adhyāya 214: Tapas Redefined—Perpetual Discipline, Hospitality, and the Ethics of Eating (तपः-निरूपणम्, विघसाशी-अतिथिप्रिय-धर्मः)
कुणपामे ध्यसंयुक्तं यद्वदच्छिद्रबन्धनम् । तद्वद् देहगतं विद्यादात्मानं देहबन्धनम्
kuṇapāmeḍhyasaṃyuktaṃ yadvad acchidra-bandhanam | tadvad deha-gataṃ vidyād ātmānaṃ deha-bandhanam ||
Bhīṣma said: “Just as the impure body—like a carcass—held together by unbroken bonds is tightly fastened, so too one should understand that the Self dwelling within the body is, through ignorance, bound fast by the bondage of embodiment.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches disidentification from the body: the body is impure and perishable, while the Self is distinct; yet due to ignorance the Self appears tightly bound by embodiment. Recognizing this bondage is a step toward detachment and liberation.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and liberation-oriented wisdom. Here he uses a stark metaphor of the body as a tightly bound, impure mass to explain how the indwelling Self becomes constrained by bodily identification.