Shloka 128
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
यद्यात्मनि परस्मिंक्षु समतामध्यवस्यसि । अथ मां कासि कस्येति किमर्थमनुपृच्छसि,यदि आप अपनेमें और दूसरेमें भी समभाव रखते हैं तो मुझसे बारंबार क्यों पूछते हैं कि “आप कौन हैं और किसकी हैं?”
yady ātmani parasmiṁś ca samatām adhyavasyasi | atha māṁ kāsi kasye ti kim artham anupṛcchasi ||
Bhishma said: If you have truly resolved to see the same Self in yourself and in others, then why do you keep questioning me—‘Who are you, and to whom do you belong?’ What purpose is served by such repeated inquiry?
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
True equanimity (samatā) toward self and others makes social labels of identity and possession—‘who are you’ and ‘whose are you’—secondary. Bhishma challenges the inconsistency between professed equal vision and continued fixation on personal identification.
In the Shanti Parva’s instructional setting, Bhishma responds to a questioner who repeatedly asks about his identity and affiliation. He points out that if the questioner genuinely maintains equal regard toward self and others, such repeated probing into personal identity is unnecessary.