Shloka 2
बलीन्द्रसंवादः — Kāla, Anityatā, and the Limits of Agency
Mahābhārata 12.217
व्यक्तं मृत्युमुखं विद्यादव्यक्तममृतं पदम् | प्रवृत्तिलक्षणं धर्ममृषि्नारायणो<ब्रवीत्
bhīṣma uvāca | vyaktaṁ mṛtyumukhaṁ vidyād avyaktam amṛtaṁ padam | pravṛttilakṣaṇaṁ dharmam ṛṣir nārāyaṇo 'bravīt ||
Bhīṣma dit : Qu’on sache que le manifeste (vyakta) est la bouche même de la mort, et l’inmanifeste (avyakta) l’état immortel. Le sage Nārāyaṇa a proclamé un dharma marqué par l’engagement dans l’action (pravṛtti) ; sur ce dharma repose l’ensemble du triple monde, avec tous les êtres mobiles et immobiles.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts the manifest realm (vyakta)—subject to change and death—with the unmanifest (avyakta) as the deathless goal. It also affirms that the world-order is upheld by pravṛtti-dharma, the dharma of engaged action taught by the sage Nārāyaṇa.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and higher principles. Here he cites Nārāyaṇa’s teaching to frame a metaphysical backdrop: worldly life operates through action-oriented dharma, while liberation points toward the unmanifest, deathless reality.