Shloka 15
अध्यात्म-तत्त्व-निर्णयः
Adhyātma Taxonomy: Elements, Faculties, and Guṇas
एवं सप्तदशं देहे वृतं षोडशभिग्गुणै: । मनीषी मनसा विप्र: पश्यत्यात्मानमात्मनि
evaṁ saptadaśaṁ dehe vṛtaṁ ṣoḍaśabhir guṇaiḥ | manīṣī manasā vipraḥ paśyaty ātmānam ātmani ||
Vyāsa dijo: Así, dentro de este cuerpo, el decimoséptimo principio —el Ser Supremo— queda velado por dieciséis constituyentes. Sin embargo, el brāhmaṇa discernidor, por el poder de la mente y la penetración interior, contempla el Ser en el yo íntimo. La enseñanza subraya que la claridad ética y espiritual no nace sólo de ritos externos, sino del discernimiento interior que atraviesa los velos de los sentidos, del aliento y de la actividad mental para realizar la realidad que mora dentro.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Supreme Self (counted as the seventeenth) is present within the body but is obscured by sixteen covering constituents (such as senses, objects, mind, vital airs, and individuality). Through disciplined inner discernment, the wise person realizes the Self within, moving from outward identification to inward knowledge.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Vyāsa continues a doctrinal exposition: he explains how the embodied being fails to recognize the indwelling Self due to layers of psycho-physical factors, and how a discerning brāhmaṇa can directly perceive that Self through inner contemplation.