Shloka 7
मनस्–बुद्धि–गुणविचारः (Manas–Buddhi–Guṇa Inquiry) — Meditation and Nirguṇa Realization
अभयं चानिमित्तं च न तत् क्लेशसमावृतम् । द्वाभ्यां मुक्त त्रिभिर्मुक्तमष्टाभिस्त्रिभिरेव च
abhayaṃ cānimittaṃ ca na tat kleśasamāvṛtam | dvābhyāṃ muktaṃ tribhir muktam aṣṭābhis tribhir eva ca ||
Bhishma dit : «Cette Réalité suprême est sans crainte et sans cause extérieure ; elle n’est pas voilée par les afflictions. Elle est libre de la paire “attirance et aversion” ; libre des trois guṇas—sattva, rajas et tamas—qui engendrent de telles réactions ; et libre encore du complexe octuple de l’existence incarnée. Là, même la triade du connaissant, de la connaissance et du connu n’a pas cours ; ainsi l’enseigne-t-on comme la demeure la plus haute, au-delà de la corruption et de la peur.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse characterizes the Supreme as unconditioned and fearless: not obscured by kleśas, not driven by dualities (like/dislike), not constituted by the three guṇas, and transcending the structures of embodied experience—so completely that even the subject–object–knowledge triad is absent.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on liberation-oriented dharma. Here he describes the nature of the highest abode/Reality by negating layers of bondage—afflictions, dualities, guṇas, and cognitive triads—to guide the listener toward non-attached, discriminative understanding.