Shloka 77

Devanagari script

सत्त्वं वहति शुद्धात्मन्‌ परं नारायण प्रभुम्‌ प्रभुर्वहति शुद्धात्मा परमात्मानमात्मना,लोकेश्वर! आकाशाभिमानी देवता उन योगियोंको रजोगुणकी परमागतितक वहन करता है। अर्थात्‌ तेजोमय विद्युत-अभिमानी देवताओंके पास पहुँचा देता है। राजेन्द्र! वह रजोगुण अर्थात्‌ विद्युदभिमानी देवता उनको सत्यकी परमगतितक अर्थात्‌ जहाँ श्रीनारायणके पार्षदगण उनको लेनेके लिये प्रस्तुत रहते हैं, वहाँतक वहन करता है। शुद्धात्मन्‌! वहाँसे सत्त्वगुणयुक्त वे भगवानके पार्षद उनको परम प्रभु श्रीनारायणके पास पहुँचा देते हैं। समर्थ राजन! भगवान्‌ नारायण स्वयं उनको विशुद्ध आत्मा परब्रह्म परमात्मामें प्रविष्ट कर देते हैं। परमात्माको पाकर तद्गूप हुए वे निर्मल योगीजन अमृतभावसम्पन्न हो जाते हैं, फिर नहीं लौटते

Transliteration

sattvaṁ vahati śuddhātman paraṁ nārāyaṇa prabhum | prabhur vahati śuddhātmā paramātmānam ātmanā ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “O pure-souled one, the quality of sattva bears the yogin onward to the supreme Lord Nārāyaṇa. And that Lord, Himself of perfectly purified essence, by His own power bears the seeker into the Paramātman. Thus, through successive elevations—first by refinement of nature and finally by divine grace—the stainless yogin attains the deathless state and does not return again.”

Word by Word

सत्त्वम्sattva (purity/being)

वहतिcarries/bears

शुद्धात्मन्O pure-souled one

परम्supreme

नारायणम्Nārāyaṇa

प्रभुम्lord

प्रभुःthe Lord

वहतिcarries/bears

शुद्धात्माthe pure-souled one

परमात्मानम्the Supreme Self

आत्मनाby/with himself

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Nārāyaṇa

Paramātman

sattva (guṇa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Purification through sattva elevates the seeker toward the Supreme Lord, but final liberation is completed by the Lord’s own agency—He brings the purified soul into realization/union with the Paramātman, resulting in immortality and non-return.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction in Śānti Parva, he describes a graded ascent of the yogin: inner purity (sattva) carries one toward Nārāyaṇa, and then Nārāyaṇa Himself consummates the journey by granting entry into the supreme state (Paramātman), after which the liberated do not return to worldly existence.