Shanti Parva Adhyaya 252 Shloka 4 - Mahabharata | Oriya | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 4

Dharma-Pramāṇa-Vicāra: The Elusiveness of Dharma and the Limits of Rule-Lists

Devanagari script

तानि सूक्ष्माणि सत्त्वानि विमुक्तानि शरीरत: । स्वेन सत्त्वेन सत्त्वज्ञा: पश्यन्ति नियतेन्द्रिया:

Transliteration

tāni sūkṣmāṇi sattvāni vimuktāni śarīrataḥ | svena sattvena sattvajñāḥ paśyanti niyatendriyāḥ ||

Translation

ଶରୀରରୁ ବିମୁକ୍ତ ହୋଇଥିବା ସେହି ସୂକ୍ଷ୍ମ ସତ୍ତ୍ୱମାନଙ୍କୁ, ଇନ୍ଦ୍ରିୟ-ନିଗ୍ରହୀ ଏବଂ ଦେହତତ୍ତ୍ୱଜ୍ଞ ମୁନିମାନେ ନିଜ ଶୁଦ୍ଧ ସତ୍ତ୍ୱ (ଚେତନା) ଦ୍ୱାରା ଦେଖନ୍ତି॥

Word by Word

तानिthose

सूक्ष्माणिsubtle

सत्त्वानिbeings / living entities

विमुक्तानिreleased, freed

शरीरतःfrom the body

स्वेनby/with one’s own

सत्त्वेनby (their) being/essence

सत्त्वज्ञाःknowers of beings/essence

पश्यन्तिsee

नियत-इन्द्रियाःself-controlled (with restrained senses)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

sūkṣma-sattvāni (subtle beings/jīvas)

śarīra (body)

niyatendriyāḥ (self-controlled sages/yogins)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Ordinary perception cannot grasp the jīva after it leaves the gross body; only those with disciplined senses and refined inner clarity (sattva) can perceive the subtle, post-mortem continuity of the living self associated with the subtle body.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa explains to the listener that when beings depart the physical body, they continue in a subtle form; yogins who have mastered the senses and understand the principles of embodied life can directly perceive this subtle state through their purified consciousness.