Shloka 5
Adhyāya 179 — Bharadvāja’s Reductionist Inquiry into Jīva and Pañcabhūta Dissolution
उपदेशं महाप्राज्ञ शमस्योपदिशस्व मे । कां बुद्धि समनुध्याय शान्तश्नरसि निर्वृत:
upadeśaṁ mahāprājña śamasya upadiśasva me | kāṁ buddhiṁ samanudhyāya śāntaś carasi nirvṛtaḥ ||
“Wahai mahāprājña, ajarkan kepadaku upadeśa tentang śama (ketenangan batin). Dengan pemahaman apakah engkau merenung dan bersandar, sehingga engkau berjalan di dunia ini dengan tenteram dan puas?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames peace (śama) as something grounded in a particular buddhi—an inner understanding cultivated through sustained contemplation (samanudhyāya). Bhīṣma seeks the practical and ethical basis of tranquility: what insight enables a person to live calmly and with contentment.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhīṣma, lying on his bed of arrows and guiding the post-war moral inquiry, asks a highly wise interlocutor for a teaching on mental peace. He requests the specific kind of reflective wisdom that allows the teacher to remain serene and fulfilled.