Shloka 34
Śrī–Indra–Bali Saṃvāda: The Departure and Fourfold Placement of Lakṣmī
तस्मिन् गूढे च दग्धे च भिन्ने मरणधर्मिणि । अन्योअस्माज्जायते देहस्तमाहु: सत्त्वसंक्षयम्,वे अविद्या आदि कारणसमूह सुषुप्ति और प्रलयमें भी संस्काररूपमें गूढ़भावसे स्थित रहते हैं। उनके रहते हुए जब एक मरणधर्मा शरीर नष्ट हो जाता है, तब उसीसे पूर्वाक्त अविद्या आदिके कारण दूसरा शरीर उत्पन्न हो जाता है। जब ज्ञानके द्वारा अविद्या आदि निमित्त दग्ध हो जाते हैं, तब शरीर-नाशके पश्चात् सत्त्व (बुद्धि) का क्षयरूप मोक्ष होता है, ऐसा उनका कथन है
tasmin gūḍhe ca dagdhe ca bhinne maraṇadharmiṇi | anyo ’smāj jāyate dehas tam āhuḥ sattvasaṃkṣayam ||
Bhīṣma disse: Quando esse complexo causal permanece oculto, e quando o corpo perecível é rompido e destruído, outro corpo nasce a partir dele — a isso chamam “diminuição do sattva (o instrumento interno)”. Mas quando a ignorância e suas condições causais são queimadas pelo conhecimento, então, após a queda do corpo, há o esgotamento do próprio sattva/buddhi (mente-intelecto) — isso, dizem, é a libertação.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
As long as ignorance and its latent causal forces remain, the destruction of one mortal body leads to the arising of another (rebirth). When those causes are ‘burned’ by true knowledge, then after the body falls there is no further production of embodiment; the inner instrument (sattva/buddhi) itself comes to cessation—this is described as moksha.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Bhishma explains to the listener the mechanism of continued embodiment versus release: ordinary death does not end the cycle if the causal seeds remain, but knowledge that destroys ignorance ends the conditions for another birth.