Shloka 21
मोक्षधर्मः — स्नेहपाशच्छेदः
Mokṣa-dharma: Cutting the Bonds of Attachment
विजानतां मोक्ष एष श्रम: स्यादविजानताम् । मोक्षयानमिदं कृत्स्नं विदुषां हारितो5ब्रवीत्
vijānātāṁ mokṣa eṣa śramaḥ syād avijānātām | mokṣayānam idaṁ kṛtsnaṁ viduṣāṁ hārito ’bravīt ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Pour ceux qui comprennent véritablement, cette discipline même devient délivrance ; pour ceux qui ne comprennent pas, elle n’est que labeur. Le sage Hārita a proclamé que, pour les avisés, toute cette voie du dharma est un “véhicule vers le moksha”, un char qui mène à la liberté.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The same religious discipline—especially renunciation grounded in insight—liberates the one who understands its purpose, but becomes mere exhausting ritual for one who lacks true knowledge. Wisdom transforms practice into moksha; ignorance reduces it to labor.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhīṣma teaches Yudhiṣṭhira and supports his point by citing the authority of the sage Hārita, who calls the complete dharmic path a ‘vehicle to moksha’ for the wise.