Shloka 58
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
गुणान् गुणशतैरज्ञात्वा दोषान् दोषशतैरपि । हेतून हेतुशतैश्रित्रैछित्रान् विज्ञाय तत्त्वतः,राजन्! भरतनन्दन! महाबुद्धिमान् सांख्यके विद्वान् सैकड़ों गुणोंके द्वारा गुणोंको, सैकड़ों दोषोंके द्वारा दोषोंको तथा सैकड़ों विचित्र हेतुओंसे विचित्र हेतुओंको तत्त्वतः जानकर व्यापक ज्ञानके प्रभावसे संसारको पानीके फेनके समान नश्वर, विष्णुकी सैकड़ों मायाओंसे ढँका हुआ, दीवारपर बने हुए चित्रके समान, नरकुलके समान सारहीन, अन्धकारसे भरे हुए गड़्ढेकी भाँति भयंकर, वर्षाकालके पानीके बुलबुलोंके समान क्षणभंगुर, सुखहीन, पराधीन, नष्टप्राय तथा कीचड़में फँसे हुए हाथीकी तरह रजोगुण और तमोगुणमें मग्न समझते हैं। इसलिये वे संतान आदिकी आसक्तिको दूर करके तपरूप दण्डसे युक्त विवेकरूपी शस्त्रसे राजस-तामस अशुभ गन्धोंको और सुन्दर शोभनीय सात््विक गन्धोंको तथा स्पर्शेन्द्रियके देहाश्रित भोगोंकी आसक्तिको शीघ्र ही काट डालते हैं
bhīṣma uvāca |
guṇān guṇaśatair ajñātvā doṣān doṣaśatair api |
hetūn hetuśatais citrair vicitrān vijñāya tattvataḥ, rājan bharatanandana |
mahābuddhimān sāṅkhye vidvān vyāpakajñānaprabhāvāt saṃsāraṃ toyapheṇavat kṣaṇabhaṅguraṃ, viṣṇoḥ śatamāyābhiḥ pracchannaṃ, bhitticitravat, narakulavat sārahīnaṃ, andhakāragartavat bhayaṅkaraṃ, varṣākālatoyabudbudavat, sukhahīnaṃ, parādhīnaṃ, naṣṭaprāyaṃ, paṅkāvasaktahastivat rajo-guṇa-tamo-guṇeṣu magnaṃ manyante |
tasmāt te santānādi-āsaktiṃ dūrīkṛtya tapa-rūpa-daṇḍena yuktayā viveka-rūpa-śastreṇa rājasatāmasa-aśubha-gandhān śobhanīyān sāttvika-gandhāṃś ca tathā sparśendriyasya dehāśrita-bhoga-āsaktiṃ śīghram eva chindanti ||
Bhishma said: O king, delight of the Bharatas—having truly discerned, by hundreds of considerations, what counts as a ‘quality’ and what counts as a ‘fault,’ and having examined the many and varied causes through countless subtle reasonings, the great-minded knower of Sāṅkhya comes, by the power of all-pervading insight, to see worldly existence as perishable like foam upon water—covered over by the hundredfold illusions of Viṣṇu; like a painted picture on a wall, lacking substance; like a clump of reeds, hollow at the core; like a pit filled with darkness, frightening; like rain-season bubbles, momentary; joyless, dependent on others, on the verge of ruin; and sunk in rajas and tamas like an elephant trapped in mud. Therefore such a person, casting off attachment to progeny and the like, swiftly cuts away—by the rod of austerity and the sword of discernment—both the impure ‘scents’ born of rajas and tamas and even the attractive ‘scents’ of sattva, as well as attachment to bodily pleasures rooted in the sense of touch.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Through discriminative insight (Sāṅkhya-viveka), one recognizes saṃsāra as insubstantial and impermanent, entangling the mind in rajas and tamas. Therefore one should cut attachment—especially to family-line continuance and bodily pleasures—using disciplined austerity and sharp discernment, even relinquishing subtle attractions of sattva when they become a new form of clinging.
In the Śānti Parva’s post-war instruction, Bhīṣma addresses the Kuru king (Yudhiṣṭhira) and describes the perspective of a Sāṅkhya-knower: after analyzing qualities, faults, and causes, he sees the world as fleeting and deceptive (māyā) and advocates a practical program of detachment—tapas and viveka—to sever sensory and emotional bonds.