Shloka 3
बलीन्द्रसंवादः — Kāla, Anityatā, and the Limits of Agency
Mahābhārata 12.217
तत्रैवावस्थितं सर्व त्रैलोक्यं सचराचरम् । निवृत्तिलक्षणं धर्ममव्यक्त ब्रह्म शाश्वतम्
tatraivāvasthitaṃ sarvaṃ trailokyaṃ sacarācaram | nivṛttilakṣaṇaṃ dharmam avyaktaṃ brahma śāśvatam |
Bhīṣma dit : Là même est établi le triple monde tout entier, avec tout ce qui se meut et ce qui ne se meut pas. Mais le dharma dont la marque est le retrait (nivṛtti) est le Brahman inmanifeste et éternel.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma identifies nivṛtti-dharma—dharma characterized by withdrawal from worldly entanglement—as identical with the unmanifest, eternal Brahman. The verse frames renunciatory insight not as a mere practice but as alignment with the deepest, unseen ground of reality.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhishma continues a philosophical exposition on dharma and ultimate reality. Here he states that the entire cosmos (all moving and unmoving beings across the three worlds) is established upon that highest principle, described as nivṛtti-dharma and the unmanifest Brahman.