Shloka 2

अव्यक्त–व्यक्त–कारणकार्यविवेकः

Avyakta–Vyakta and Causality: Discrimination of Field and Knower

Devanagari script

यथाम्भसि प्रसन्ने तु रूपं पश्यति चक्षुषा । तद्वव्प्रसन्नेन्द्रियत्वाउज्ञेयं ज्ञानेन पश्यति

Transliteration

yathāmbhasi prasanne tu rūpaṃ paśyati cakṣuṣā | tadvat prasannendriyatvāt jñeyaṃ jñānena paśyati ||

Translation

जिस प्रकार स्वच्छ और स्थिर जल में मनुष्य नेत्रों से अपना रूप देखता है, उसी प्रकार मन और इन्द्रियों के शुद्ध तथा स्थिर हो जाने पर वह ज्ञान-दृष्टि से ज्ञेयस्वरूप आत्मा का साक्षात्कार करता है।

Word by Word

• {'yathā': 'just as, in the same way', 'ambhasi': 'in water', 'prasanne': 'clear, tranquil, settled', 'tu': 'indeed, but (emphatic particle)', 'rūpam': 'form

• reflection/image', 'paśyati': 'sees, beholds', 'cakṣuṣā': 'with the eye(s)', 'tadvat': 'so, likewise', 'prasanna-indriyatvāt': 'because of the clarity/serenity of the senses (and by implication the mind)', 'jñeyam': 'the knowable

• the object to be known (here, the Self/Ātman)', 'jñānena': 'by knowledge

• through the faculty/vision of knowledge', 'ātman (implied)': 'the Self, inner reality'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• water (ambhas)
• eyes (cakṣus)
• senses (indriya)
• knowledge (jñāna)
• the knowable/Self (jñeya)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Self-realization depends on the clarity and steadiness of the inner instruments. When the senses (and mind) are tranquil and purified, knowledge can directly reveal the jñeya—the Self—just as a calm, clear surface reveals a reflection.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and liberation-oriented discipline. Here he uses a simple analogy—seeing one’s image in still water—to explain how inner serenity enables direct insight into the Self.