Shloka 25
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
मध्यस्थमेकमात्मानं पाप॑ं यस्मिन् न विद्यते । द्वितीयं कर्म विज्ञाय नूपते विषयैषिणाम्
madhyastham ekam ātmānaṁ pāpaṁ yasmin na vidyate | dvitīyaṁ karma vijñāya nūpate viṣayaiṣiṇām ||
ಭೀಷ್ಮನು ಹೇಳಿದನು— ಒಳಗೆ ಮಧ್ಯಸ್ಥವಾಗಿ, ನಿರ್ಲಿಪ್ತಭಾವದಿಂದ ಇರುವ ಆ ಏಕಾತ್ಮನನ್ನು ತಿಳಿ; ಅವನಲ್ಲಿ ಪಾಪದ ಲೇಶವೂ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಆತ್ಮನಿಂದ ಭಿನ್ನವಾದ ‘ಎರಡನೆಯ’ ತತ್ತ್ವವು ಕರ್ಮವೆಂದು ತಿಳಿ; ಅದು ವಿಷಯಾಸಕ್ತರ ಪಾಲಾಗಿದೆ.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes the pure, impartial Self—untainted by sin—from karma, which is treated as a secondary principle associated with people driven by desire for sense-objects. Ethical clarity comes from recognizing the Self as intrinsically unstained and seeing desire-based action as a separate, binding factor.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs King Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and liberation-oriented wisdom. Here he urges discernment: identify the inner Self as neutral and pure, and recognize that the compulsive activity of the sense-seeker is something other than that Self.