Shloka 2
बलीन्द्रसंवादः — Kāla, Anityatā, and the Limits of Agency
Mahābhārata 12.217
व्यक्तं मृत्युमुखं विद्यादव्यक्तममृतं पदम् | प्रवृत्तिलक्षणं धर्ममृषि्नारायणो<ब्रवीत्
bhīṣma uvāca | vyaktaṁ mṛtyumukhaṁ vidyād avyaktam amṛtaṁ padam | pravṛttilakṣaṇaṁ dharmam ṛṣir nārāyaṇo 'bravīt ||
Bhishma berkata: Hendaklah diketahui bahawa yang nyata (vyakta) itu laksana mulut kematian, dan yang tidak nyata (avyakta) ialah kedudukan yang tidak mati. Resi Nārāyaṇa telah mengisytiharkan dharma yang berciri keterlibatan dalam tindakan (pravṛtti); di atas dharma itulah seluruh tiga alam—bersama segala yang bergerak dan yang tidak bergerak—tegak terasas.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts the manifest realm (vyakta)—subject to change and death—with the unmanifest (avyakta) as the deathless goal. It also affirms that the world-order is upheld by pravṛtti-dharma, the dharma of engaged action taught by the sage Nārāyaṇa.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and higher principles. Here he cites Nārāyaṇa’s teaching to frame a metaphysical backdrop: worldly life operates through action-oriented dharma, while liberation points toward the unmanifest, deathless reality.