Shloka 67
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
निर्वाणं सर्वधर्माणां निवृत्ति: परमा स्मृता | तस्मान्निवृत्तिमापन्नश्चरेत् सर्वाज्रनिर्वृतः
nirvāṇaṁ sarvadharmāṇāṁ nivṛttiḥ paramā smṛtā | tasmān nivṛttim āpannaś caret sarvāṅganirvṛtaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Voici la plus haute remémoration : l’apaisement de tous les dharma —le retrait total de toute voie d’action qui enchaîne— est le nirvāṇa. Ainsi, celui qui a atteint cet état de retrait doit cheminer dans la vie, chaque membre et chaque faculté en paix, sans trouble et comblé.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma identifies nirvāṇa with nivṛtti—complete cessation from binding engagements and the compulsions of duty-as-attachment. The liberated person, having turned back from all such entanglements, lives in steady tranquility, with the senses and mind pacified.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Bhishma continues advising Yudhishthira on the highest path. Here he summarizes the ideal of nivṛtti: the one established in renunciation should live calmly, free from agitation, embodying inner contentment.