Shloka 52
Śakra–Namuci-saṃvāda: Śoka-nivāraṇa and Daiva-vicāra
Indra and Namuci on grief, composure, and inevitability
इमं हि यः पठति विमोक्षनिश्चयं महीपते सततमवेक्षते तथा । उपद्रवान् नानुभवत्यदु:खित: प्रमुच्यते कपिलमिवैत्य मैथिल:,राजन! यहाँ जो मोक्षतत्त्वका निर्णय किया गया है, उसका जो पुरुष सदा स्वाध्याय और चिन्तन करता रहता है, उसे उपद्रवोंका कष्ट नहीं भोगना पड़ता। दुःख तो उसके पास कभी फटकने नहीं पाते हैं तथा जिस प्रकार राजा जनक कपिलमतावलम्बी पंचशिखके समागमसे इस ज्ञानको पाकर मुक्त हो गये थे, उसी प्रकार वह भी मोक्ष प्राप्त कर लेता है
imaṃ hi yaḥ paṭhati vimokṣaniścayaṃ mahīpate satatam avekṣate tathā | upadravān nānubhavaty aduḥkhitaḥ pramucyate kapilam ivaitya maithilaḥ ||
Bhishma said: O king, the man who repeatedly studies and steadily contemplates this settled teaching on liberation does not suffer the assaults of adversity; remaining untroubled, sorrow cannot gain a foothold in him. Just as the Maithila king Janaka attained freedom by approaching Kapila and through association with Pañcaśikha, so too does such a seeker obtain mokṣa.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Regular study (svādhyāya) and sustained contemplation of a clear doctrine of liberation make the seeker inwardly steady: adversities lose their power to disturb, and freedom (mokṣa) becomes attainable. The verse emphasizes disciplined reflection, not mere hearing, as the practical means to transcend suffering.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs King Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and the path to peace after the war. Here he concludes a teaching on liberation by praising the person who continually studies and reflects on it, and he illustrates the point with the exemplar of King Janaka of Mithilā, who attained liberation through approaching Kapila and through the Kapila-lineage instruction associated with Pañcaśikha.