Shloka 20
Adhyāya 241: Guṇa-sṛṣṭi, Kṣetrajña-sākṣitva, and Śama through Ātma-jñāna (गुणसृष्टिः, क्षेत्रज्ञसाक्षित्वं, शमः)
सचेतनं जीवगुणं वदन्ति स चेष्टते जीवयते च सर्वम् | ततः पर क्षेत्रविदो वदन्ति प्राकल्पयद् यो भुवनानि सप्त
sacetanaṁ jīvaguṇaṁ vadanti sa ceṣṭate jīvayate ca sarvam | tataḥ para kṣetravido vadanti prākalpayad yo bhuvanāni sapta ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: Al cuerpo se le llama «dotado de conciencia» porque está asociado a las cualidades del jīvātman. Es el jīvātman quien actúa por medio del cuerpo y quien otorga vida y percepción a todo el organismo. Pero los conocedores del campo declaran superior a ese jīvātman al Paramātman: Aquel que, al comienzo, dio forma a los siete mundos.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes three levels: the body (inert by itself), the jīva (which animates and acts through the body), and the Paramātman (the supreme creator), whom the wise regard as higher than the jīva.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on liberation and right understanding, Bhishma teaches Yudhishthira a hierarchy of principles—body, individual self, and Supreme Self—urging discernment between the field (body) and the knower(s) of the field.