Shloka 51
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
संहारकाले परिदग्धकाया ब्रद्माणमायान्ति सदा प्रजा हि । चेष्टात्मनो देवगणाश्न सर्वे ये ब्रह्मलोकादपरा: सम तेडपि
saṁhārakāle paridagdhakāyā brahmāṇam āyānti sadā prajā hi | ceṣṭātmano devagaṇāś ca sarve ye brahmalokād aparāḥ samās te 'pi ||
ビーシュマは語った。「宇宙が大いなる滅尽（プララヤ）に入る時、粗身・微身・因身の三身が智の火によって焼き尽くされた者――ヨーギーたちは、常に至上のブラフマンに到達する。同様に、ブラフマローカより下位の諸世界に住み、神性を具え、修行に励む天衆と戒律ある求道者たちも、みなその至上ブラフマンに至る。教えの要は、解脱は宇宙における身分や居処によってではなく、内なる浄化と、身に縛る限界を焼き払う智慧によって成就されるということだ。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberation is attained when the coverings of embodiment are consumed by knowledge and disciplined practice; at pralaya, such purified beings—whether yogins or divine beings in lower worlds—reach the Supreme Brahman. Cosmic rank (even residence in Brahmaloka or below) is secondary to inner realization.
In Bhishma’s instruction in the Shanti Parva, he describes the destiny of realized and disciplined beings at the time of cosmic dissolution: those whose embodied limitations are destroyed attain Brahman, and even divine beings and practitioners in lower realms, through sustained spiritual effort, also reach the Supreme.