Shloka 36
जनक–पराशर संवादः — वर्ण-गोत्र-धर्मविचारः
Janaka–Parāśara: Varṇa, Gotra, and Dharma Inquiry
आश्रयो नास्ति सत्त्वस्य गुणसर्गेण चेतना । सत्त्वमस्य सृजन्त्यन्ये गुणान् वेद कदाचन
āśrayo nāsti sattvasya guṇasargeṇa cetanā | sattvam asya sṛjanty anye guṇān veda kadācana ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Apabila intelek memancarkan permainan nyata guṇa, diri yang sedar bukanlah ‘landasan’ bagi sattva yang terhasil itu. Buddhi-lah yang membentuk guṇa-guṇa yang lain juga; namun diri yang berjasad jarang sekali benar-benar mengenali guṇa-guṇa itu ketika ia berfungsi. Ajaran ini menuntun kepada pembedaan: pembebasan terletak pada pengenalan bahawa guṇa ialah hasil prakṛti dan tidak disalahanggap sebagai Diri.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse distinguishes the conscious Self (cetanā/jīva) from the guṇas produced in prakṛti through buddhi. Sattva and the other guṇas are seen as constructed/manifested phenomena, while true consciousness is not their material support; wisdom is to know the guṇas as guṇas and not identify them with the Self.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on liberation-oriented philosophy. Here he explains how the intellect’s activity gives rise to the guṇic field of experience, and how the embodied self seldom recognizes these guṇas correctly—setting up the need for discernment and detachment.