Shloka 11
Adhyāya 353 — Kathā-prāmāṇya (Authority of Transmission) and the Brāhmaṇa’s Ascetic Resolve
हित्वा गुणमयं सर्व कर्म हित्वा शुभाशुभम् । उभे सत्यानृते त्यक्त्वा एवं भवति निर्गुण:
hitvā guṇamayaṃ sarvaṃ karma hitvā śubhāśubham | ubhe satyānṛte tyaktvā evaṃ bhavati nirguṇaḥ ||
குணமயமான எல்லா செயல்களையும் விட்டு, சுபமும் அசுபமும் ஆகிய இருவகைச் செயல்களையும் துறந்து, ‘உண்மை’ ‘பொய்’ என்ற இரண்டையும் பந்தமாக்கும் நிலைப்பாடாகக் கைவிட்டாலே சாதகன் நிர்குணனாகிறான்.
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberation is presented as freedom from attachment to guṇa-conditioned action and its moral accounting (merit/demerit). The verse urges a shift beyond dualistic clinging—such as identifying oneself through ‘I am truthful’ versus ‘I am false’—toward a state of non-identification where actions and labels no longer bind.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and the path to peace after the war. Here he articulates a renunciatory, mokṣa-oriented teaching: the seeker becomes ‘nirguṇa’ by relinquishing attachment to all guṇa-based activity and the dualities that sustain bondage.