Shloka 2

अव्यक्त–व्यक्त–कारणकार्यविवेकः

Avyakta–Vyakta and Causality: Discrimination of Field and Knower

Devanagari script

यथाम्भसि प्रसन्ने तु रूपं पश्यति चक्षुषा । तद्वव्प्रसन्नेन्द्रियत्वाउज्ञेयं ज्ञानेन पश्यति,जिस प्रकार मनुष्य स्वच्छ और स्थिर जलमें नेत्रोंद्वारा अपना प्रतिबिम्ब देखता है, वैसे ही मनसहित इन्द्रियोंके शुद्ध एवं स्थिर हो जानेपर वह ज्ञानदृष्टिसे ज्ञेयस्वरूप आत्माका साक्षात्कार कर सकता है

Transliteration

yathāmbhasi prasanne tu rūpaṃ paśyati cakṣuṣā | tadvat prasannendriyatvāt jñeyaṃ jñānena paśyati ||

Translation

எவ்வாறு தெளிந்த, அமைதியான நீரில் கண்களால் ஒருவர் தன் பிரதிபலிப்பைக் காண்கிறாரோ, அவ்வாறே மனமும் இந்திரியங்களும் தூய்மையடைந்து நிலைபெற்றால், ஞானதृष्टியால் ஜ்ஞேயஸ்வரூபமான ஆத்மாவை அவர் தரிசிக்கிறார்।

Word by Word

• {'yathā': 'just as, in the same way', 'ambhasi': 'in water', 'prasanne': 'clear, tranquil, settled', 'tu': 'indeed, but (emphatic particle)', 'rūpam': 'form

• reflection/image', 'paśyati': 'sees, beholds', 'cakṣuṣā': 'with the eye(s)', 'tadvat': 'so, likewise', 'prasanna-indriyatvāt': 'because of the clarity/serenity of the senses (and by implication the mind)', 'jñeyam': 'the knowable

• the object to be known (here, the Self/Ātman)', 'jñānena': 'by knowledge

• through the faculty/vision of knowledge', 'ātman (implied)': 'the Self, inner reality'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• water (ambhas)
• eyes (cakṣus)
• senses (indriya)
• knowledge (jñāna)
• the knowable/Self (jñeya)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Self-realization depends on the clarity and steadiness of the inner instruments. When the senses (and mind) are tranquil and purified, knowledge can directly reveal the jñeya—the Self—just as a calm, clear surface reveals a reflection.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and liberation-oriented discipline. Here he uses a simple analogy—seeing one’s image in still water—to explain how inner serenity enables direct insight into the Self.