Shloka 24
ध्यानयोगवर्णनम्
Description of the Path of Meditation
आत्मानं तं विजानीहि सर्वलोकहितात्मकम् | तस्मिन् य: संश्रितो देहे हाब्बिन्दुरिव पुष्करे
ātmānaṃ taṃ vijānīhi sarvalokahitātmakam | tasmin yaḥ saṃśrito dehe haṃsabindur iva puṣkare ||
Bharadvāja dit : «Sache que ce Soi a pour nature le bien de tous les mondes. Bien qu’il demeure, comme soutenu, dans le corps, il en est en vérité séparé, tel une goutte d’eau posée sur une feuille de lotus.»
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Self (Ātman) is intrinsically oriented to universal welfare and is not truly bound to the body; even while dwelling in it, it remains untouched and distinct, like a water drop that does not cling to a lotus leaf.
In a didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja instructs the listener to recognize the nature of the Ātman, using the lotus-leaf metaphor to emphasize inner detachment and the Self’s separateness from bodily identity.