Shloka 6
जनकस्य मोक्षमार्गप्रश्नः तथा पञ्चशिखोपदेश-प्रस्तावः | Janaka’s Path to Liberation: Prelude to Pañcaśikha’s Instruction
पूर्व नित्यं सर्वगतं मनोहेतुमलक्षणम् । अज्ञानकर्म निर्दिषप्टमेतत् कारणलक्षणम्,आत्मा सबके पहले विद्यमान था। वह नित्य, सर्वगत, मनका भी हेतु और लक्षणरहित है। यह कारणस्वरूप समस्त जगत् अज्ञानका कार्य बताया गया है
pūrvaṁ nityaṁ sarvagataṁ manohetum alakṣaṇam | ajñānakarma nirdiṣṭam etat kāraṇalakṣaṇam ||
ビーシュマは言った。「真我（アートマン）は万物に先立って存在していた――常住にして遍在し、心の生起の根拠でありながら、いかなる規定の相も持たない。この世界全体の因の基盤は、無明と業（カルマ）に結びつくものとして説かれ、そこから顕現の存在が流れ出る条件である。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts the primacy of the Atman: it is beginningless, eternal, all-pervading, and not definable by ordinary attributes. The manifested causal order of the world is explained in relation to ignorance (ajñāna) and action (karma), implying that bondage and worldly causation persist where ignorance and karmic momentum operate, while the Self itself remains untouched.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Bhishma continues his philosophical teaching to Yudhishthira, describing the nature of the Self and the causal basis of worldly experience, shifting the focus from external duties to inner knowledge that leads toward liberation.