Shloka 24
आत्मानं तं विजानीहि सर्वलोकहितात्मकम् | तस्मिन् य: संश्रितो देहे हाब्बिन्दुरिव पुष्करे
ātmānaṃ taṃ vijānīhi sarvalokahitātmakam | tasmin yaḥ saṃśrito dehe haṃsabindur iva puṣkare ||
भरद्वाज बोले—उस आत्मा को ‘क्षेत्रज्ञ’ ही समझो, जो सर्वलोक-हितस्वरूप है। वह इस देह में आश्रित होकर भी वास्तव में इससे पृथक् है—जैसे कमल-पत्र पर ठहरा जल-बिन्दु।
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Self (Ātman) is intrinsically oriented to universal welfare and is not truly bound to the body; even while dwelling in it, it remains untouched and distinct, like a water drop that does not cling to a lotus leaf.
In a didactic passage of the Śānti Parva, Bharadvāja instructs the listener to recognize the nature of the Ātman, using the lotus-leaf metaphor to emphasize inner detachment and the Self’s separateness from bodily identity.