Shloka 35
जनक–पराशर संवादः — वर्ण-गोत्र-धर्मविचारः
Janaka–Parāśara: Varṇa, Gotra, and Dharma Inquiry
न गुणा विदुरात्मानं स गुणान् वेद सर्वतः । परिद्रष्टा गुणानां तु संस्रष्टा मन्यते यथा
na guṇā vidur ātmānaṃ sa guṇān veda sarvataḥ | paridraṣṭā guṇānāṃ tu saṃsraṣṭā manyate yathā ||
Bhīṣma disse: “As qualidades materiais (guṇas) não conhecem o Si; mas o Si conhece as qualidades de todos os modos. Embora o Si seja a testemunha e observadora das qualidades, os iludidos o imaginam misturado a elas, como se estivesse enredado em seus funcionamentos.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The guṇas, being insentient aspects of material nature, cannot apprehend the conscious Self; rather, the Self illuminates and knows the guṇas. Liberation-oriented discernment comes from recognizing the Self as the witness, not as something truly compounded with sattva, rajas, and tamas.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhishma continues his philosophical teaching, clarifying the relation between the conscious ātman and the material guṇas, and correcting the common delusion that the Self is inherently entangled with them.