Shloka 23
Śrī–Indra–Bali Saṃvāda: The Departure and Fourfold Placement of Lakṣmī
दृश्यमाने विनाशे च प्रत्यक्षे लोकसाक्षिके । आगमात् परमस्तीति ब्रुवन्नपि पराजित:,कुछ नास्तिक ऐसा कहा करते हैं कि देहरूपी आत्माका विनाश प्रत्यक्ष देखा जा रहा है। सम्पूर्ण लोक इसका साक्षी है। फिर भी यदि कोई शास्त्रप्रमाणकी ओट लेकर देहसे भिन्न आत्माकी सत्ताका प्रतिपादन करता है तो वह परास्त है; क्योंकि उसका कथन लोकानुभवके विरुद्ध है
dṛśyamāne vināśe ca pratyakṣe lokasākṣike | āgamāt paramastīti bruvann api parājitaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “When destruction is seen directly and the whole world stands as witness to it, one who still argues—taking refuge in scriptural authority—that there exists a supreme reality (or self) beyond what is evident, is deemed defeated by the skeptic, for his claim appears to run against common experience.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a classic epistemic conflict: skeptics privilege direct perception (pratyakṣa) and public experience (loka-sākṣika), and therefore claim victory over anyone who argues for a reality beyond the body on the basis of scripture (āgama). Bhīṣma is highlighting how arguments for the ātman or a ‘supreme’ principle can be challenged when they appear to contradict common observation.
In Śānti Parva’s post-war instruction, Bhīṣma discusses dharma and philosophical viewpoints. Here he articulates how a nāstika (skeptical/denialist) would argue: since bodily death is directly seen and universally witnessed, scriptural claims of a distinct self beyond the body are dismissed as losing against worldly experience.