Shloka 179
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
वर्णाश्रमा: पृथक्त्वेन दृष्टार्थस्यापृथक्त्विन: । नान्यदन्यदिति ज्ञात्वा नान्यदन्यत्र वर्तते
varṇāśramāḥ pṛthaktvena dṛṣṭārthasyāpṛthaktvinaḥ | nānyad anyad iti jñātvā nānyad anyatra vartate ||
Bhīṣma berkata: Varṇa dan āśrama memang dijelaskan sebagai berbeda-beda. Namun bagi dia yang telah menyaksikan Kebenaran secara langsung dan teguh dalam pemahaman non-dual—yang mengetahui, “tiada sesuatu pun yang lain, terpisah dari Diri,” dan yang berperilaku dengan wawasan bahwa tidak ada ‘yang lain’ yang berdiri terpisah di dalam ‘yang lain’—tidak mungkin ada pertautan nyata dengan sesuatu yang berbeda. Karena itu, baginya tuduhan varṇa-saṅkara tidak muncul.
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma distinguishes between conventional social distinctions (varṇa and āśrama) and the standpoint of realized non-dual knowledge. For the Self-realized person who sees no true ‘other,’ notions like ‘mixture’ or ‘contamination’ based on difference lose their footing, because they presuppose real separateness.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhīṣma explains to the listener that while social duties are taught in differentiated form for worldly order, the knower of Brahman transcends difference-based judgments; hence accusations such as varṇa-saṅkara do not apply to one established in non-dual realization.