Shloka 54
मनु-उपदेशः — भूत-उत्पत्ति, इन्द्रिय-निवृत्ति, तथा पर-स्वभाव-विवेकः
Manu’s Instruction on Elemental Origination, Sense-Withdrawal, and Discrimination of the Supreme Nature
महानद्या हि पारज्ञस्तप्यते न तदन्यथा । न तु तप्यति तत्त्वज्ञ: फले ज्ञाते तरत्युत
mahānadyā hi pārajñas tapyate na tad anyathā | na tu tapyati tattvajñaḥ phale jñāte taraty uta ||
Bhishma dit : «L’homme qui ne fait que connaître le gué d’un grand fleuve n’en est pas pour autant accompli ; tant qu’il n’a pas réellement gagné l’autre rive par une barque ou quelque moyen, il demeure consumé d’inquiétude. Mais le connaisseur du Réel traverse l’océan du samsara par la connaissance elle-même ; il ne brûle pas de détresse, car cette connaissance est, en vérité, un pont.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Mere conceptual information is not the same as attainment: knowing a route does not end anxiety until one actually crosses. In contrast, true knowledge (tattva-jñāna)—realization of reality—functions as the very means of liberation and carries one beyond saṃsāra, removing inner distress.
In Bhishma’s instruction during the Shanti Parva, he uses a practical simile: a person who only knows the ford of a vast river still suffers until he reaches the opposite bank. He then applies the image to spiritual life, asserting that the realized knower crosses the ‘ocean of the world’ through knowledge itself.