Shloka 94
अपां गुणांस्तथा पार्थ पार्थिवांश्व गुणानपि । सर्वाण्येव गुणैव्याप्य क्षेत्रज्ञेषु युधिष्ठिर,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
apāṁ guṇāṁs tathā pārtha pārthivāṁś ca guṇān api | sarvāṇy eva guṇair vyāpya kṣetrajñeṣu yudhiṣṭhira bharatanandana | dharmātmā rājā yudhiṣṭhira parabraḥma paramātmā sāttvika-rājasa-tāmasa-guṇān buddhi-mana-ākāśa-vāyu-tejo-jala-pṛthivī-eteṣāṁ sarva-guṇān anyāni ca sarva-vastūni svaguṇair vyāpya sarveṣu kṣetrajñeṣu tiṣṭhati prabho | yathā śiṣyaḥ svaguroḥ pṛṣṭhato gacchati tathā mana indriyāṇi ca śubhāśubha-karmāṇi ca jīvātmanaḥ pṛṣṭhato ’nugacchanti | yadā jīvātmā indriyāṇi prakṛtiṁ ca tyaktvā gacchati tadā nārāyaṇa-svarūpaṁ dvandva-rahitaṁ māyātītaṁ avināśinaṁ paramātmānaṁ prāpnoti ||
Bhishma said: “O son of Pritha, O Yudhishthira, delight of the Bharatas—having pervaded by His own qualities the qualities of water and of earth, and indeed the qualities of all things—the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Self, abides within all knowers of the field (all embodied selves). As a disciple follows behind his teacher, so too the mind, the senses, and one’s auspicious and inauspicious deeds follow behind the individual self. When the self departs, leaving even the senses and Nature behind, it attains that imperishable Supreme Self—Narayana in essence—free from dualities and beyond illusion.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Supreme Self (Paramatma/Parabrahman) pervades all qualities and elements and dwells within all embodied knowers (kṣetrajñas). Liberation is described as the self’s departure beyond senses and prakṛti, culminating in attainment of the imperishable Narayana who is beyond dualities and māyā.
In Shanti Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma continues his philosophical counsel to King Yudhishthira, explaining how the Supreme pervades the cosmos and how mind, senses, and karmic residues accompany the individual self—until, through transcendence of prakṛti, the self reaches the Supreme.