Shloka 98
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
राजन! जैसे काठके साथ लाह और धूलके साथ पानीकी बूंदें मिलकर एक हो जाती हैं, उसी प्रकार इस जगतमें प्राणियोंका जन्म कई तत्त्वोंके मेलसे होता है ।।
rājan! yathā kāṭhena sārdhaṃ lākṣā dhūlinā sārdhaṃ ca jalabindavaḥ saṃmilitā ekībhavanti, tathā asmin jagati prāṇināṃ janma anekatattvasaṃyogāt bhavati. śabdaḥ sparśo raso rūpaṃ gandhaḥ pañcendriyāṇi ca | pṛthag ātmānam ātmānaṃ saṃśliṣṭā jatukāṣṭhavat ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Ô roi, de même que la laque se soude au bois et que les gouttes d’eau se mêlent à la poussière pour ne faire qu’un, ainsi, en ce monde, la naissance des êtres vivants procède de la conjonction de nombreux éléments. Son, toucher, saveur, forme et odeur—avec les cinq sens—bien que distincts en eux-mêmes, s’entrelacent avec le Soi (Ātman), comme la laque s’attache au bois.»
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma teaches that embodied life arises from a composite of multiple principles (tattvas): the sense-objects and the senses become tightly interwoven with the self in lived experience, even though they are analytically distinct. The metaphor urges discernment—recognizing the difference between the self and the sensory complex—supporting ethical steadiness and detachment.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to the king, Bhishma continues a philosophical explanation of how beings come to be embodied and how perception binds the self to the world. He illustrates the fusion of components through everyday images (lac with wood; water with dust) to make the metaphysical point vivid.