Shloka 43

Śrī–Indra–Bali Saṃvāda: The Departure and Fourfold Placement of Lakṣmī

Devanagari script

इति सम्यड्मनस्येते बहव: सन्ति हेतव: । एतदस्तीदमस्तीति न किज्वचित्प्रतिदृश्यते,इस प्रकार मनमें अनेक प्रकारके तर्क उठते हैं और उन तर्कों तथा युक्तियोंसे आत्माकी सत्ता या असत्ताका निर्धारण कुछ भी होता नहीं दिखायी देता

Transliteration

iti samyaṅ-manasy ete bahavaḥ santi hetavaḥ | etad astīdam astīti na kiñcit kvacit pratidṛśyate ||

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。「このように、心が究明に向かうと、多くの論理が起こる。だが、その論と反論からは、『これがある』『これがない』と決定的に立て得るものは、どこにも明らかには見いだされない—とりわけ自己については。ゆえに、ただの論争を真の識別と取り違えてはならぬ。」

Word by Word

इतिthus

सम्यक्properly, rightly

मनसिin the mind

एतेthese

बहवःmany

सन्तिare, exist

हेतवःreasons, causes

एतत्this

अस्तिis, exists

इदम्this

अस्तिis, exists

इतिthus (quoting)

नnot

किञ्चित्anything, something (here: anything at all)

क्वचित्anywhere, in any case

प्रतिदृश्यतेis seen, appears, is perceived

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma highlights the limits of purely intellectual argument: many reasons can be produced on both sides, yet they may not yield decisive perception of truth—especially about the self. True understanding requires more than debate; it calls for deeper discernment and reliable means of knowledge.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhishma continues his philosophical counsel, cautioning that mental disputation generates numerous arguments but does not by itself settle the question of existence or non-existence (notably of the self).