Shloka 96
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
प्रकृतिं चाप्यतिक्रम्य गच्छत्यात्मानमव्ययम् | परं नारायणात्मान निर्दद प्रकृते: परम्,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
prakṛtiṃ cāpyatikramya gacchaty ātmānam avyayam | paraṃ nārāyaṇātmānaṃ nirdvandvaṃ prakṛteḥ param | bharatanandana dharmātmā rājā yudhiṣṭhira |
Bhīṣma said: When the individual self transcends even Prakṛti (material nature), it proceeds to the imperishable Self—the Supreme, whose very essence is Nārāyaṇa—free from all dualities and beyond Prakṛti. O delight of the Bharatas, O righteous King Yudhiṣṭhira: that Supreme Brahman, the highest Self, pervades the sāttvika, rājasa, and tāmasa qualities, and also the totality of the qualities of intellect, mind, ether, wind, fire, water, and earth—indeed all things—by His own power, while abiding within all knowers of the field (living selves). Just as a disciple follows behind the teacher, so do the mind, the senses, and one’s auspicious and inauspicious deeds follow behind the embodied self. When the self departs, leaving behind the senses and Prakṛti, it attains that Nārāyaṇa-formed, imperishable Supreme Self, beyond māyā and untouched by the pairs of opposites.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberation is described as the self’s transcendence of Prakṛti and the senses, culminating in realization/attainment of the imperishable Supreme—Nārāyaṇa—who is beyond the guṇas and all dualities. Ethical causality (śubha-aśubha karma) follows the embodied self, so freedom requires going beyond identification with mind, senses, and material nature.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma continues his post-war teaching to King Yudhiṣṭhira, explaining the metaphysical structure of reality (guṇas, elements, mind/intellect) and how the jīva is accompanied by mind, senses, and karma, until—through transcendence—it reaches the Supreme Nārāyaṇa, beyond māyā and duality.