Shloka 176
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
यदि वाप्यस्पृशन्त्या मे स्पर्श जानासि कठ्चन । ज्ञानं कृतमबीजं ते कथं तेनेह भिक्षुणा
yadi vāpy aspṛśantyā me sparśaṁ jānāsi kaścana | jñānaṁ kṛtam abījaṁ te kathaṁ teneha bhikṣuṇā ||
ビーシュマは言った。「たとえ我が汝に触れていないとしても、なお何らかの形で我が触れを感じると言い張るなら、問わねばならぬ。あの托鉢の聖者、賢者パンチャシカは、いかにしてここで汝に真の知を授け得たのか。汝は感覚と誤解に執して、その知を『無種』—実を結ばぬもの—としてしまったのだから。」
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma criticizes a mind that mistakes imagined sensation for reality. If one remains trapped in sensory fixation and confusion, even profound instruction becomes “abīja” (seedless)—it cannot mature into realization or ethical transformation.
Bhīṣma addresses an interlocutor who claims to feel ‘touch’ despite no contact. Using this as evidence of delusion, he questions how the ascetic teacher Pañcaśikha could have successfully transmitted liberating knowledge, since the listener’s misunderstanding has made that teaching fruitless.