Shloka 20
Adhyāya 241: Guṇa-sṛṣṭi, Kṣetrajña-sākṣitva, and Śama through Ātma-jñāna (गुणसृष्टिः, क्षेत्रज्ञसाक्षित्वं, शमः)
सचेतनं जीवगुणं वदन्ति स चेष्टते जीवयते च सर्वम् | ततः पर क्षेत्रविदो वदन्ति प्राकल्पयद् यो भुवनानि सप्त
sacetanaṁ jīvaguṇaṁ vadanti sa ceṣṭate jīvayate ca sarvam | tataḥ para kṣetravido vadanti prākalpayad yo bhuvanāni sapta ||
ビーシュマは言った。「身体が『意識を備える』と言われるのは、ジーヴァートマンの性質と結びついているからである。身体を通して行為するのも、全身に生命と覚知を与えるのも、まさにその個我である。だが田を知る者たちは、その個我よりもさらに高きものとして、初めに七つの世界を造り成したパラマートマンを説く。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes three levels: the body (inert by itself), the jīva (which animates and acts through the body), and the Paramātman (the supreme creator), whom the wise regard as higher than the jīva.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on liberation and right understanding, Bhishma teaches Yudhishthira a hierarchy of principles—body, individual self, and Supreme Self—urging discernment between the field (body) and the knower(s) of the field.