Shloka 26
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
बह्दाश्रयो बहुमुखो धर्मो हृदि समाश्रित: । स ब्रह्म परमो धर्मस्तपश्च॒ सदसच्च स:,“बहुत-से वर्ण और आश्रम उनके आश्रय हैं, उनके अनेक मुख हैं। हृदयमें आश्रित धर्म भी उन्हींका स्वरूप है। वे ही ब्रह्म हैं। वे ही आत्मदर्शनरूप परम धर्म हैं। वे ही तप और सदसत्स्वरूप हैं
bahudāśrayo bahumukho dharmo hṛdi samāśritaḥ | sa brahma paramo dharmas tapaś ca sadasac ca saḥ ||
Bhishma said: “Dharma rests upon many supports and speaks with many voices. Yet the dharma that abides in the heart is none other than That itself. That is Brahman; That is the supreme dharma realized as direct knowledge of the Self. That is also tapas (austerity), and That is the very form of both the real and the unreal.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma appears diverse—varying by social role, stage of life, and circumstance—but its deepest ground is the inner realization of Brahman. The highest dharma is Self-knowledge, from which disciplined living (tapas) and the understanding of reality and appearance (sat/asat) are properly oriented.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on righteous living after the war, Bhishma teaches Yudhishthira that dharma cannot be reduced to a single external rule. He points beyond the many outward expressions of duty to the heart-centered and metaphysical source: Brahman, the ultimate principle that underlies all ethical and spiritual life.