Shloka 24
Doṣa-Parīkṣā and Guṇa-Viveka
Examination of Faults and Discernment of the Guṇas
पुरुष: प्रकृतिर्बुद्धि्विषयाश्रेन्द्रियाणि च । अहंकारो5भिमानश्व समूहो भूतसंज्ञक:
puruṣaḥ prakṛtir buddhir viṣayāś cendriyāṇi ca | ahaṅkāro ’bhimānaś ca samūho bhūtasaṃjñakaḥ ||
ਭੀਸ਼ਮ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ—ਪੁਰੁਸ਼, ਪ੍ਰਕ੍ਰਿਤੀ, ਬੁੱਧੀ, ਪੰਜ ਵਿਸ਼ੇ, ਦਸ ਇੰਦ੍ਰੀਆਂ, ਅਹੰਕਾਰ, ਮਨ ਅਤੇ ਮਹਾਭੂਤਾਂ ਦੇ ਨਾਮ ਨਾਲ ਜਾਣਿਆ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਤੱਤ-ਸਮੂਹ—ਇਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਪੱਚੀ ਤੱਤਾਂ ਦਾ ਜੋ ਸਮਾਹਾਰ ਹੈ, ਉਸੇ ਨੂੰ ‘ਪ੍ਰਾਣੀ’ ਕਿਹਾ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines the ‘living being’ as an aggregate of twenty-five Sāṅkhya principles—consciousness (puruṣa) plus the evolutes of nature (prakṛti): intellect, egoity/identification, the sense-objects, the sense-faculties, and the elemental aggregate. The ethical implication is that recognizing these as components helps one dis-identify from them and act with steadiness and restraint.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and liberation-oriented wisdom. Here he shifts into a Sāṅkhya-style analysis, enumerating the constituents of embodied existence to support discernment (viveka) and inner peace after the war.