Shloka 28

Śrī–Indra–Bali Saṃvāda: The Departure and Fourfold Placement of Lakṣmī

Devanagari script

यत्र यत्रानुमाने5स्मिन्‌ कृतं भावयतो5डपि च | नान्यो जीव: शरीरस्य नास्तिकानां मते स्थित:,जहाँ-कहीं भी ईश्वर, अदृष्ट अथवा नित्य आत्माकी सिद्धिके लिये अनुमान किया जाता है, वहाँ साध्य-साधनके लिये की हुई भावना भी व्यर्थ है, अतः नास्तिकोंके मतमें जीवात्माकी शरीरसे भिन्न कोई सत्ता नहीं है--यह बात स्थिर हुई

Transliteration

yatra yatrānumāne ’smin kṛtaṃ bhāvayato ’pi ca | nānyo jīvaḥ śarīrasya nāstikānāṃ mate sthitaḥ ||

Translation

Dijo Bhishma: Allí donde, en esta línea de razonamiento, se intenta establecer por inferencia a Dios, lo no visto (adṛṣṭa) o un Yo eterno, incluso la construcción mental de medios y fines se vuelve inútil. Por ello, en la doctrina de los incrédulos, queda asentado como conclusión que no existe un ser viviente distinto del cuerpo.

Word by Word

{'yatra yatra''wherever, in whatever case', 'anumāne': 'in inference

in inferential reasoning', 'asmin''in this (context/argument)', 'kṛtam': 'done

posited', 'bhāvayataḥ''of one who imagines/constructs/mentally posits

of one who contemplates', 'api ca''even

and also', 'na anyaḥ''no other

not distinct', 'jīvaḥ''living being

individual soul (as conceived)', 'śarīrasya''of the body

from the body (in sense of relation/separation)', 'nāstikānām''of the nāstikas

of those who deny (Veda/afterlife/ātman, depending on context)', 'mate''in the view/doctrine', 'sthitaḥ': 'established

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

nastikas (deniers/materialists)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse reports a nāstika/materialist conclusion: attempts to prove God, adṛṣṭa, or an eternal self purely by inference are treated as unavailing, and thus they hold that there is no jīva distinct from the body.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhishma surveys and articulates differing philosophical positions; here he states the nāstika stance that denies a separate, eternal soul beyond the body.