Shloka 110

Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)

Devanagari script

शमश्न दृष्ट: परमं बल॑ च ज्ञानं च सूक्ष्मं च यथावदुक्तम्‌ | तपांसि सूक्ष्माणि सुखानि चैव सांख्ये यथावद्‌ विहितानि राजन्‌

Transliteration

śamaś ca dṛṣṭaḥ paramaṃ balaṃ ca jñānaṃ ca sūkṣmaṃ ca yathāvad uktam | tapāṃsi sūkṣmāṇi sukhāni caiva sāṅkhye yathāvad vihitāni rājan ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : «Ô roi, l’enseignement du Sāṅkhya expose avec précision et dans l’ordre ces réalités : l’obtention d’une clarté intérieure directe, la maîtrise du mental et des sens, la force suprême, la connaissance subtile du discernement, et les austérités fines qui aboutissent au bien-être. Tout cela y est présenté avec justesse et selon la juste progression.»

Word by Word

• {'śamaḥ': 'calmness

• pacification of the mind', 'dṛṣṭaḥ': 'seen

• directly perceived', 'paramam': 'supreme

• highest', 'balam': 'strength

• steadiness', 'jñānam': 'knowledge

• insight', 'sūkṣmam': 'subtle

• difficult to perceive', 'yathāvat': 'as it truly is

• in due manner', 'uktam': 'said

• explained', 'tapāṃsi': 'austerities

• ascetic practices', 'sūkṣmāṇi': 'subtle (austerities)

• inward and refined disciplines', 'sukhāni': 'happiness

• that which yields ease/benefit', 'caiva': 'and indeed

• and also', 'sāṅkhye': 'in Sāṅkhya

• in the Sāṅkhya system/teaching', 'vihitāni': 'prescribed

• arranged/expounded', 'rājan': 'O King (vocative)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• rājan (the King, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira)
• Sāṅkhya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhīṣma emphasizes that Sāṅkhya systematically teaches inner calm (śama), disciplined restraint of mind and senses, subtle discriminative knowledge, and refined austerities that lead to lasting well-being—presenting them in a correct and ordered way.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs King Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and liberation-oriented disciplines; here he points Yudhiṣṭhira to Sāṅkhya as an authoritative framework that already lays out these practices and insights precisely.