Shloka 54
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
स यावदेवास्ति सशेषभुक् ते प्रजाश्न देव्या च तथैव शुक्ले । तावत् तदज्लेषु विशुद्धभाव: संयम्य पज्चेन्द्रियरूपमेतत्
sa yāvad evāsti saśeṣabhuk te prajāśna devyā ca tathaiva śukle | tāvat tad-ajñeṣu viśuddhabhāvaḥ saṁyamya pañcendriyarūpam etat ||
Bhishma dijo: Mientras ese hombre perfecto, de alma purificada, permanezca encarnado y continúe experimentando sólo el impulso residual de la acción pasada, refrena este aparato interior que toma la forma de los cinco sentidos. Durante ese tiempo, en su cuerpo moran las deidades rectoras de los sentidos y las potencias del conocimiento —tanto el inferior como el superior— hasta que el karma restante se agota.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a purified, perfected person may continue in a body due to residual (prārabdha) karma; during this period, liberation is safeguarded by strict restraint of the five-sense apparatus, while the powers of knowledge (lower and higher) remain present and operative without bondage.
In Bhishma’s instruction in the Shanti Parva, he describes the condition of a siddha/viśuddhabhāva person: though still living and undergoing the remainder of past karma, he keeps the senses under control; the presiding deities of the senses and the capacities of knowledge are said to reside in his embodied state until that remainder is spent.