Shloka 77
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
सत्त्वं वहति शुद्धात्मन् परं नारायण प्रभुम् प्रभुर्वहति शुद्धात्मा परमात्मानमात्मना
sattvaṁ vahati śuddhātman paraṁ nārāyaṇa prabhum | prabhur vahati śuddhātmā paramātmānam ātmanā ||
Bhishma dit : « Ô âme pure, la qualité de sattva porte le yogin vers le Seigneur suprême Nārāyaṇa. Et ce Seigneur, dont l’essence est parfaitement purifiée, par sa propre puissance fait entrer le chercheur dans le Paramātman. Ainsi, par des élévations successives — d’abord par le raffinement de la nature, puis enfin par la grâce divine — le yogin sans tache atteint l’état immortel et ne revient plus. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Purification through sattva elevates the seeker toward the Supreme Lord, but final liberation is completed by the Lord’s own agency—He brings the purified soul into realization/union with the Paramātman, resulting in immortality and non-return.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction in Śānti Parva, he describes a graded ascent of the yogin: inner purity (sattva) carries one toward Nārāyaṇa, and then Nārāyaṇa Himself consummates the journey by granting entry into the supreme state (Paramātman), after which the liberated do not return to worldly existence.