Shloka 2
बलीन्द्रसंवादः — Kāla, Anityatā, and the Limits of Agency
Mahābhārata 12.217
व्यक्तं मृत्युमुखं विद्यादव्यक्तममृतं पदम् | प्रवृत्तिलक्षणं धर्ममृषि्नारायणो<ब्रवीत्
bhīṣma uvāca | vyaktaṁ mṛtyumukhaṁ vidyād avyaktam amṛtaṁ padam | pravṛttilakṣaṇaṁ dharmam ṛṣir nārāyaṇo 'bravīt ||
ਵਿਅਕਤ ਨੂੰ ਮੌਤ ਦਾ ਮੂੰਹ ਜਾਣੋ ਅਤੇ ਅਵ੍ਯਕਤ ਨੂੰ ਅਮ੍ਰਿਤ-ਪਦ। ਪ੍ਰਵ੍ਰਿੱਤੀ-ਲੱਛਣ ਧਰਮ ਦਾ ਉਪਦੇਸ਼ ਰਿਸ਼ੀ ਨਾਰਾਇਣ ਨੇ ਕੀਤਾ ਹੈ।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts the manifest realm (vyakta)—subject to change and death—with the unmanifest (avyakta) as the deathless goal. It also affirms that the world-order is upheld by pravṛtti-dharma, the dharma of engaged action taught by the sage Nārāyaṇa.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and higher principles. Here he cites Nārāyaṇa’s teaching to frame a metaphysical backdrop: worldly life operates through action-oriented dharma, while liberation points toward the unmanifest, deathless reality.