Shloka 14
इन्द्र–बलि संवादः
The Dialogue of Indra and Bali on Fortune, Humility, and Restraint
मनस्यन्तर्तहितं द्वारं देहमास्थाय मानुषम् । यद् यत् सदसदव्यक्तं स्वपित्यस्मिन्निदर्शनम् । सर्वभूतात्मभूतस्थं तमध्यात्मगुणं विदुः
manasy antarhitaṃ dvāraṃ deham āsthāya mānuṣam | yad yat sadasad avyaktaṃ svapity asmin nidarśanam | sarvabhūtātma-bhūtasthaṃ tam adhyātma-guṇaṃ viduḥ |
Bhishma dit : Le corps humain grossier —porte de la vision du rêve, cachée au sein de l’esprit—, lorsqu’il s’endort, se résorbe dans l’esprit. S’appuyant sur ce corps, l’esprit rencontre le principe non manifesté (avyakta), au-delà de l’être et du non-être, comme dans une vision onirique. Cette réalité, demeurant en tous les êtres et étant le Soi de tous, les sages la reconnaissent comme pourvue de la qualité spirituelle intérieure (adhyātma).
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse points to the Self as the unmanifest reality that transcends categories of being and non-being, present within all beings. Sleep/dream is used as an analogy to show how the mind withdraws and yet ‘encounters’ a deeper principle recognized by the wise as adhyātma (inner spiritual reality).
In Bhishma’s instruction in the Shanti Parva, he explains an inner process of consciousness: the mind, relying on the human body as its ‘gateway,’ withdraws in sleep, and this condition becomes a teaching-example (nidarśana) for understanding the all-pervading Self that abides in every creature.