Shloka 12
Śakra–Namuci-saṃvāda: Śoka-nivāraṇa and Daiva-vicāra
Indra and Namuci on grief, composure, and inevitability
शब्द: स्पर्श च रूप॑ं च रसो गन्धश्न मूर्तय: । एते ह्यामरणात् पञज्च षड्गुणा ज्ञानसिद्धये
śabdaḥ sparśaṃ ca rūpaṃ ca raso gandhaś ca mūrtayaḥ | ete hy ā-maraṇāt pañca ṣaḍ-guṇā jñāna-siddhaye ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Le son, le toucher, la forme, la saveur, l’odeur et l’incarnation matérielle : telles sont les qualités qui servent de moyens à l’accomplissement de la connaissance sensible, et elles opèrent chez l’être vivant jusqu’à l’instant de la mort. Ce n’est que lorsque les sens entrent en contact avec ces qualités qu’une cognition distincte des divers objets surgit.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma explains that cognition depends on the contact between the senses and their objects—sound, touch, form, taste, and smell—along with material embodiment; these function as the operative qualities enabling sensory knowledge throughout embodied life.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma continues his philosophical teaching to Yudhiṣṭhira, analyzing how knowledge arises through the senses and their objects as part of a broader discourse on dharma and liberation-oriented understanding.