Shloka 15
अध्यात्म-तत्त्व-निर्णयः
Adhyātma Taxonomy: Elements, Faculties, and Guṇas
एवं सप्तदशं देहे वृतं षोडशभिग्गुणै: । मनीषी मनसा विप्र: पश्यत्यात्मानमात्मनि
evaṁ saptadaśaṁ dehe vṛtaṁ ṣoḍaśabhir guṇaiḥ | manīṣī manasā vipraḥ paśyaty ātmānam ātmani ||
ヴィヤーサは言った。かくしてこの身体のうちで、第十七の原理—至上の自己—は十六の要素によって覆い隠されている。だが識別あるバラモンは、心と洞察の力によって、内なる自己のうちに自己を観る。この教えは、倫理的・霊的な明晰さが外的儀礼のみによってではなく、感官・息・心の働きという覆いを貫く内なる識別によって、内在する実在を悟るところから生じることを示す。
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Supreme Self (counted as the seventeenth) is present within the body but is obscured by sixteen covering constituents (such as senses, objects, mind, vital airs, and individuality). Through disciplined inner discernment, the wise person realizes the Self within, moving from outward identification to inward knowledge.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Vyāsa continues a doctrinal exposition: he explains how the embodied being fails to recognize the indwelling Self due to layers of psycho-physical factors, and how a discerning brāhmaṇa can directly perceive that Self through inner contemplation.