Shloka 8
Śāṇḍilī–Sumanā-saṃvāda: Sat-strī-samudācāra and Pati-dharma
Conduct of the Virtuous Wife
आत्मनश्ष् तपोभाग्यं महाभाग्यं तवेह च । पृथगाचरतस्तात पृथगात्मसुखात्मनो: । अल्पान्तरमहं मन्ये विशिष्टमपि चान्वयात्
bhīṣma uvāca | ātmanaś ca tapobhāgyaṁ mahābhāgyaṁ taveha ca | pṛthag ācaratas tāta pṛthag-ātma-sukhātmanoḥ | alpāntaram ahaṁ manye viśiṣṭam api cānvayāt ||
भीष्म उवाच—आत्मनश्च तपोभाग्यं महाभाग्यं तवेह च। पृथगाचरतस्तात पृथगात्मसुखात्मनोः॥ अल्पान्तरमहं मन्ये विशिष्टमपि चान्वयात्। सर्वव्यापित्वसंबन्धात् परं ब्रह्म विशिष्यते॥ त्वं तु जीवात्मनो ब्रह्मणोऽभेदं विजानासि। कथं तव व्यवहारोऽयं विस्मयाविष्टवत् प्रभो, मम तु न तथा॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights the ethical demand that one’s conduct should align with one’s metaphysical understanding: if one knows the individual self and the Supreme Self to be essentially non-different, one should not act from a sense of separation or self-centered pursuit of happiness. He also notes the Supreme’s ‘superiority’ in a functional sense—its all-pervading connection with all beings—while still treating the ultimate difference as slight.
Bhishma addresses a younger interlocutor affectionately (“tāta”), praising both his own austerity-born merit and the other’s inherited or natural blessedness tied to a guru-lineage. He then gently challenges the other person’s moment of astonishment or inconsistency, pointing out that the person’s behavior seems to contradict his professed view that the individual self is not separate from the Supreme.