Shloka 14
इन्द्र–बलि संवादः
The Dialogue of Indra and Bali on Fortune, Humility, and Restraint
मनस्यन्तर्तहितं द्वारं देहमास्थाय मानुषम् । यद् यत् सदसदव्यक्तं स्वपित्यस्मिन्निदर्शनम् । सर्वभूतात्मभूतस्थं तमध्यात्मगुणं विदुः,स्वप्न-दर्शनका द्वारभूत जो स्थूल मानव देह है, वह सुषुप्ति-अवस्थामें मनमें लीन हो जाता है। उसी देहका आश्रय ले मन अव्यक्त सदसत्स्वरूप एवं साक्षीभूत आत्माको प्राप्त होता है। वह आत्मा सम्पूर्ण भूतोंके आत्मभूत है। ज्ञानी पुरुष उसे अध्यात्मगुणसे युक्त मानते हैं
manasy antarhitaṃ dvāraṃ deham āsthāya mānuṣam | yad yat sadasad avyaktaṃ svapity asmin nidarśanam | sarvabhūtātma-bhūtasthaṃ tam adhyātma-guṇaṃ viduḥ |
Bhishma said: Taking refuge in the human body—this ‘doorway’ that becomes hidden within the mind—the mind falls asleep, and in that state the unmanifest principle, beyond both being and non-being, is encountered as in a dream-vision. That reality, abiding in all beings and itself the Self of all beings, the wise recognize as endowed with the inner spiritual quality (adhyātma).
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse points to the Self as the unmanifest reality that transcends categories of being and non-being, present within all beings. Sleep/dream is used as an analogy to show how the mind withdraws and yet ‘encounters’ a deeper principle recognized by the wise as adhyātma (inner spiritual reality).
In Bhishma’s instruction in the Shanti Parva, he explains an inner process of consciousness: the mind, relying on the human body as its ‘gateway,’ withdraws in sleep, and this condition becomes a teaching-example (nidarśana) for understanding the all-pervading Self that abides in every creature.