Shloka 93
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
गुणांश्न मनसश्नापि नभसश्च गुणांश्व सः । गुणान् वायोश्व धर्मात्मंस्तेजस श्व गुणान् पुन:,भरतनन्दन! धर्मात्मा राजा युधिष्ठिर! परब्रह्म परमात्मा सात््विक, राजस और तामस गुणोंको एवं बुद्धि, मन, आकाश, वायु, तेज, जल, और पृथ्वी-इन सबके सम्पूर्ण गुणोंको तथा अन्य सब वस्तुओंको भी अपने गुणोंद्वारा व्याप्त करके सभी क्षेत्रज्ञों (जीवात्माओं) में स्थित हैं, प्रभो! जैसे शिष्य अपने गुरुके पीछे चलते हैं, उसी प्रकार मन, इन्द्रियाँ और शुभाशुभ कर्म भी उस जीवात्माके पीछे-पीछे चलते हैं। जब जीवात्मा इन्द्रियों और प्रकृतिको भी लाँचकर जाता है, तब उस नारायणस्वरूप अविनाशी परमात्माको प्राप्त हो जाता है, जो द्वन्द्ररहित और मायासे अतीत है
guṇāṁś ca manasaś cāpi nabhasaś ca guṇāṁś ca saḥ | guṇān vāyoś ca dharmātmāṁs tejasas ca guṇān punaḥ, bharatanandana! dharmātmā rājā yudhiṣṭhira! |
Bhishma said: “O Bharata’s joy, righteous King Yudhishthira—He, the Supreme Brahman and Supreme Self, pervades by His own power all the qualities of sattva, rajas, and tamas, and likewise the complete qualities of intellect and mind, and of space, wind, fire, water, and earth, as well as all other things. Abiding within all knowers of the field (individual selves), He remains the inner ruler. Just as a disciple follows behind his teacher, so too the mind, the senses, and one’s auspicious and inauspicious deeds follow behind the embodied self. When the individual self departs, leaving even the senses and material nature behind, it attains that imperishable Lord in the form of Narayana—beyond dualities and beyond māyā.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Supreme Self (Paramatman/Narayana) pervades all qualities and elements and abides within every individual knower (kṣetrajña). Liberation is described as the jīva’s departure beyond senses and prakṛti, culminating in attainment of the imperishable Lord beyond dualities and māyā.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma continues his philosophical counsel to King Yudhishthira, explaining how the Supreme pervades the cosmos and how the embodied self is followed by mind, senses, and karmic results until, upon release from prakṛti, it reaches Narayana.