Shloka 40
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
श्रोत्रं वेदयते वेद्यं स शृणोति स पश्यति । कारणं तस्य देहो5यं स कर्ता सर्वकर्मणाम्,वही श्रवणेन्द्रियको उसके ज्ञेयभूत शब्दका बोध कराता है। तात्पर्य यह कि श्रवण और नेत्रोंद्राय वही सुनता और देखता है। यह शरीर उसके शब्द आदि विषयोंके अनुभवमें निमित्त है। वह जीवात्मा ही समस्त कर्मोका कर्ता है
śrotraṃ vedayate vedyaṃ sa śṛṇoti sa paśyati | kāraṇaṃ tasya deho 'yaṃ sa kartā sarvakarmaṇām ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: «El oído hace conocido el sonido cognoscible; pero es ese Ser interior quien en verdad oye y en verdad ve. Este cuerpo es solo la causa instrumental para su experiencia del sonido y de los demás objetos de los sentidos. Ese mismo jīva es el hacedor de todas las acciones».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Perception occurs through sense-organs, but the true experiencer and agent is the inner self (jīva/ātman). The body functions as an instrument (kāraṇa/nimitta) for experiencing objects, while moral responsibility for action is attributed to the self as kartā.
In the Shanti Parva’s post-war instruction, Bhishma continues his philosophical-ethical discourse to Yudhishthira, explaining how cognition and action relate to the senses, the body, and the inner self, grounding ethical accountability in the agent-self rather than in the mere physical body.