Shloka 48
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
अहं सर्वत्रगो ब्रह्मन् भूतग्रामान्तरात्मक: । भूतग्रामशरीरेषु नश्यत्सु न नशाम्यहम्,“ब्रह्मन्! मैं सर्वव्यायी और समस्त प्राणिसमुदायका अन्तरात्मा हूँ। सम्पूर्ण भूतसमुदाय और शरीरोंके नष्ट हो जानेपर भी मेरा नाश नहीं होता है
ahaṃ sarvatrago brahman bhūtagrāmāntarātmakaḥ | bhūtagrāmaśarīreṣu naśyatsu na naśāmy aham ||
Bhishma said: “O Brahmin, I am all-pervading Brahman, the inner Self within the entire multitude of beings. Even when the whole host of creatures and their bodies perish, I do not perish.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the imperishability and all-pervasiveness of the inner Self (ātman): bodies and aggregates of beings are subject to destruction, but the indwelling Self that underlies them is not destroyed.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhishma is expounding metaphysical knowledge to a learned interlocutor, emphasizing that true identity is the inner Self rather than the perishable body.