Shloka 23
बलीन्द्रसंवादः — Kāla, Anityatā, and the Limits of Agency
Mahābhārata 12.217
परप्रत्ययसर्गे तु नियतिननिवर्तते । भावान्तप्रभवप्रज्ञा आसते ये विपर्ययम्
para-pratyaya-sarge tu niyatiḥ na nivartate | bhāvānta-prabhava-prajñā āsate ye viparyayam ||
Bhishma berkata: Dalam arus kewujudan yang dibentuk oleh pergantungan pada “yang lain” (sokongan dan tanggapan luaran), takdir tidak berpaling. Namun mereka yang wawasannya lahir daripada perubahan hakikat diri—mereka yang teguh dalam pengetahuan sejati—tidak tinggal dalam keadaan yang bertentangan itu; sedangkan mereka yang berada pada sisi sebaliknya, dengan kejahilan belum tersingkir, terus digerakkan oleh bahagian nasib yang diperuntukkan dan berputar dalam kitaran kelahiran dan kematian.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma contrasts two conditions: those grounded in external, mistaken reliance remain bound to niyati (often understood as prārabdha-driven worldly momentum), while those whose wisdom arises from an inner transformation (true knowledge) are not held in the contrary state of error and are effectively free from bondage to the cycle of birth and death.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhishma teaches Yudhishthira about the difference between the ignorant person who continues under the compulsion of fate and samsara, and the knower whose awakened insight breaks the binding force of karmic continuity.