Shloka 86
इन्द्रियाण्येव बुध्यन्ते स्वदेहे देहिनां नूप । कारणान्यात्मनस्तानि सूक्ष्म: पश्यति तैस्तु सः,नरेश्वर! देहधारियोंके अपने-अपने शरीरमें जो इन्द्रियाँ हैं, वे ही विशेष-विशेष विषयोंको देखती या अनुभव करती हैं; वे ही आत्माको विभिन्न ज्ञान करानेमें कारण हैं; क्योंकि वह सूक्ष्म आत्मा उन इन्द्रियोंद्वारा ही बाह्य विषयोंका दर्शन या प्रकाशन करता है (मुक्तावस्थामें मन और इन्द्रियोंसे सम्बन्ध न रहनेके कारण ही उसमें इन्द्रियजनित विशेष ज्ञानका अभाव देखा जाता है)
indriyāṇy eva budhyante svadehe dehināṁ nūpa | kāraṇāny ātmanas tāni sūkṣmaḥ paśyati tais tu saḥ, nareśvara |
Bhīṣma said: “O king, it is the senses alone, situated in each embodied being’s own body, that apprehend their respective objects. Those very senses become the instruments that occasion the self’s diverse cognitions; for the subtle self ‘sees’ and makes manifest external objects only through them, O lord of men.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Perception and particularized knowledge arise through the senses; the subtle self does not directly grasp external objects without these instruments. This supports the ethical-spiritual point that mastery or withdrawal of the senses changes the field of experience, and in liberation the absence of sense-contact implies the absence of sense-born distinctions.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhīṣma continues teaching Yudhiṣṭhira about the nature of the embodied self. He explains how cognition in embodied life depends on the indriyas, framing the metaphysical basis for restraint, detachment, and the pursuit of mokṣa.