Shloka 99

Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

न चैषां चोदना काचिदस्तीत्येष विनिश्चय: । शब्द, स्पर्श, रूप, रस और गन्ध तथा पाँचों ज्ञानेन्द्रियाँ--ये आत्मासे पृथक्‌ होनेपर भी काष्ठमें सटे हुए लाहके समान आत्माके साथ जुड़े हुए हैं; परंतु इनमें स्वतन्त्र कोई प्रेरणा- शक्ति नहीं है। यही विद्वानोंका निश्चय है ।।

Transliteration

na caiṣāṁ codanā kācid astīty eṣa viniścayaḥ | śabda-sparśa-rūpa-rasa-gandhāś ca pañca jñānendriyāṇi—te ātmataḥ pṛthag bhūtā api kāṣṭhe saṭe lākṣāvat ātmanaḥ saha saṁyuktāḥ; na tu teṣāṁ svatantrā kācid prerā-śaktir asti—iti viduṣāṁ viniścayaḥ | ekaikasyeha vijñānaṁ nāsty ātmani tathā pare ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : «En ces choses, il n’existe aucun élan ni commandement indépendant : telle est la conclusion arrêtée. Son, toucher, forme, saveur et odeur, avec les cinq organes de connaissance, bien que distincts du Soi, demeurent attachés au Soi comme la laque au bois. Pourtant, aucun ne possède un pouvoir autonome d’impulsion : telle est la détermination des sages. Et en cela, nul élément pris isolément ne constitue la vraie connaissance, ni à l’égard du Soi ni à l’égard de ce qui n’est pas le Soi.»

Word by Word

• {'codanā': 'impulsion, injunction, prompting force', 'viniścayaḥ': 'settled conclusion, final determination', 'śabda': 'sound', 'sparśa': 'touch', 'rūpa': 'form, visible appearance', 'rasa': 'taste, flavor', 'gandha': 'smell, fragrance', 'jñānendriyāṇi': 'organs of knowledge (sense faculties)', 'ātman': 'the Self, inner consciousness', 'pṛthak': 'separate, distinct', 'saṁyukta': 'joined, connected, associated', 'kāṣṭha': 'wood', 'lākṣā': 'lac (resin), used as an adhesive/dye

• metaphor for clinging', 'svatantra': 'independent, autonomous', 'prerā-śakti': 'power to impel, motivating force', 'viduṣām': 'of the wise/learned', 'ekaika': 'each single one, individually', 'vijñāna': 'discriminative knowledge, true cognition', 'para': 'the other

Speaker

भीष्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• ātman (Self)
• śabda (sound)
• sparśa (touch)
• rūpa (form)
• rasa (taste)
• gandha (smell)
• pañca jñānendriyāṇi (five sense faculties)
• kāṣṭha (wood)
• lākṣā (lac)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sense-objects and sense-faculties appear closely bound to the Self, but they do not possess independent agency or an autonomous power to impel action; true discernment arises from understanding their dependence and the distinctness of the Self.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Shanti Parva’s instruction, Bhishma continues his philosophical counsel, explaining to his listener that the senses and their objects cling to the Self like lac to wood, yet they are not self-directing forces; this supports ethical restraint and detachment grounded in self-knowledge.