Shloka 20
अव्यक्त–व्यक्त–कारणकार्यविवेकः
Avyakta–Vyakta and Causality: Discrimination of Field and Knower
नेन्द्रियर्मनस: सिद्धिर्न बुद्धि बुछाते मन: । न बुद्धिर्बुद्धाते5व्यक्तं सूक्ष्मं त्वेतानि पश्यति
nendriyair manasaḥ siddhir na buddhiḥ budhyate manaḥ | na buddhiḥ budhyate ’vyaktaṃ sūkṣmaṃ tv etāni paśyati ||
इंद्रिये मनाला जाणत नाहीत; मन बुद्धीला जाणत नाही; आणि बुद्धी सूक्ष्म, अव्यक्त आत्म्याला जाणत नाही. परंतु तोच सूक्ष्म, अव्यक्त आत्मा सर्वांचा साक्षी आहे—तो सर्व काही पाहतो व जाणतो.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a hierarchy of knowing: senses cannot grasp the mind, mind cannot grasp intellect, and intellect cannot grasp the subtle unmanifest Self; nevertheless the Self is the witnessing principle that illuminates and knows all mental and sensory operations.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and liberation-oriented wisdom. Here he explains an inner analysis of cognition to direct attention away from external faculties toward the witnessing Self as the basis of true knowledge.