Shloka 9
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
सनकादि महर्षियोंकी शुक्राचार्य एवं वृत्रासुरसे भेंट अस्मिन् गच्छन्ति विलयमस्माच्च प्रभवन्त्युत । नैष ज्ञानवता शक््यस्तपसा नैव चेज्यया । सम्प्राप्तुमिन्द्रियाणां तु संयमेनैव शक््यते
sanakādi-maharṣayaḥ śukrācārya-vṛtrāsurābhyāṃ saṃgacchante | asmin gacchanti vilayam asmāc ca prabhavanty uta | naiṣa jñānavatā śakyaḥ tapasā naiva cejyayā | samprāptum indriyāṇāṃ tu saṃyamenaiva śakyate ||
Bhīṣma dit : « Les grands sages, à commencer par Sanaka, rencontrèrent Śukrācārya et Vṛtrāsura. Tous les êtres se résorbent en ce principe suprême, et de lui ils renaissent. On ne peut l’atteindre par la seule science des Écritures, ni par l’ascèse, ni même par le sacrifice ; on ne l’atteint que par la maîtrise et la retenue des sens. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The highest reality is not secured by mere scholarship, austerity, or ritual sacrifice; it is realized through indriya-saṃyama—disciplined restraint and mastery of the senses, which stabilizes the mind and makes true knowledge effective.
In Bhishma’s discourse on liberation in the Shanti Parva, he cites revered figures—Sanakadi sages, Shukracharya, and Vritrasura—to frame a teaching about the ultimate source into which beings dissolve and from which they arise, emphasizing inner discipline over external means.