Shloka 44
Adhyāya 262: Śabda-brahman, Para-brahman, and the Ethics of Tyāga
Kapila–Syūmaraśmi Saṃvāda
कारणैर्थर्ममन्विच्छन् स लोकानाप्तुते शुभान् । जाजले! यह आत्मा ही प्रधान तीर्थ है। आप तीर्थसेवनके लिये देश-देशमें मत भटकिये। जो यहाँ मेरे बताये हुए अहिंसाप्रधान धर्मोका आचरण करता है तथा विशेष कारणोंसे धर्मका अनुसंधान करता है, वह कल्याणकारी लोकोंको प्राप्त होता है ।।
kāraṇair dharmam anvicchan sa lokān āpnute śubhān | jājale! ya ātmā hi pradhānaṁ tīrtham | āpa tīrtha-sevana ke liye deśa-deśa meṁ mat bhaṭakiye | yo ’tra mayā proktān ahiṁsā-pradhānān dharmān ācarati tathā viśeṣa-kāraṇaiḥ dharmasya anusandhānaṁ karoti sa kalyāṇakārīl lokān prāpnoti || (bhīṣma uvāca) etānīdṛśakān dharmās tulādhāraḥ praśaṁsati |
Bhīṣma berkata: “Wahai Jājali, siapa menelusuri dharma melalui sebab-sebabnya yang sejati akan meraih alam-alam yang mujur. Ketahuilah: Diri (Ātman) adalah tīrtha yang utama; jangan mengembara dari negeri ke negeri semata-mata demi ziarah. Siapa menjalankan kewajiban yang berpusat pada ahiṃsā yang kuajarkan di sini, dan menimbang dharma dengan alasan yang jernih, akan mencapai alam kesejahteraan. Dharma yang tanpa kekerasan, berlandas nalar yang benar, dan dijunjung para mulia—itulah yang selalu dipuji oleh saudagar Tulādhāra.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
True purification is primarily inward: the Self is the highest ‘tīrtha’. Dharma should be practiced with ahimsa at its center and examined through sound reasons, rather than pursued as mere external ritual or travel.
Bhishma, instructing within the Shanti Parva, recalls and endorses the teaching associated with the merchant Tulādhāra: he advises Jājali (and by extension the listener) not to rely on outward pilgrimage alone, but to live non-violently and to inquire into dharma’s real grounds to attain auspicious realms.