Shloka 106
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
अहं कर्तेति चाप्यन्यो गुणस्तत्र चतुर्दश: । ममायमिति येनायं मनन््यते न ममेति च
ahaṃ karteti cāpy anyo guṇas tatra caturdaśaḥ | mamāyam iti yenāyaṃ manyate na mameti ca ||
Bhīṣma said: “There is also another quality there—the fourteenth—called egoism: the conceit ‘I am the doer.’ Through it the embodied being forms the notions ‘this is mine’ and ‘this is not mine.’”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Egoism (ahaṃkāra)—the conceit ‘I am the doer’—drives possessiveness and division into ‘mine’ and ‘not mine.’ Recognizing this mechanism is a step toward ethical restraint and inner freedom from attachment.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction, Bhishma continues his analysis of inner qualities, identifying egoism as a distinct factor that shapes how the individual self interprets actions and ownership.