Shloka 50

Devanagari script

सम्यगन्वीक्षतां बुद्धया शान्तयाध्यात्मनित्यया । ध्यानाभ्यासाभिरामाणां योडमृतत्वाय कल्पते,“जो वायु अन्तकालमें सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंके प्राणोंको शरीरसे निकालता है, जिसके इस प्राणनिष्कासनरूप मार्गका मृत्यु तथा वैवस्वत यम अनुगमनमात्र करते हैं, सदा अध्यात्मचिन्तनमें लगी हुई शान्त बुद्धिके द्वारा भलीभाँति अनुसंधान करनेवाले तथा ध्यानके अभ्यासमें ही सानन्द रत रहनेवाले पुरुषोंको जो अमृतत्व देनेमें समर्थ है, जिसमें स्थित होकर प्रजापति दक्षके दस हजार पुत्र सम्पूर्ण दिशाओंके अन्तमें पहुँच गये तथा जिससे स्पर्शित होकर विलीन हुआ प्राणी यहाँसे केवल जाता है वापस नहीं लौटता, उस सर्वश्रेष्ठ सप्तम वायुका नाम “परावह' है। उसका अतिक्रमण करना सभीके लिये सर्वथा कठिन है

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | samyag anvīkṣatāṃ buddhyā śāntayā adhyātma-nityayā | dhyānābhyāsābhirāmāṇāṃ yo 'mṛtatvāya kalpate |

Translation

Bhishma said: “For those who, with a tranquil intellect ever grounded in inner contemplation, investigate reality rightly, and who delight in the steady practice of meditation, that supreme principle becomes capable of granting immortality—liberation beyond death.”

Word by Word

सम्यक्properly, correctly

अन्वीक्षताम्let them examine/investigate

बुद्ध्याby/with the intellect

शान्तयाby/with a calm (one)

अध्यात्मनित्ययाever devoted to the Self/spirituality

ध्यानाभ्यासाभिरामाणाम्of those delighting in the practice of meditation

यःwho

अमृतत्वायfor immortality

कल्पतेis fit/suffices; is capable

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma (Bhīṣma)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Immortality (amṛtatva), understood as liberation beyond death, is attained by those who cultivate a peaceful, inwardly oriented intellect, conduct right inquiry into reality, and remain joyfully steady in meditative practice.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on liberation and inner discipline, Bhishma continues teaching that the decisive means is not external achievement but inner inquiry (anvīkṣā), tranquility of mind, and sustained meditation leading toward deathlessness.