Shloka 37
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
इस प्रकार ये सम्पूर्ण पदार्थ समस्त चराचर जगत्का भार वहन करते हैं। ये सब जो प्रकृतिसे अतीत रजोगुणरहित हैं, उस परमदेव परमात्माके आश्रित हैं ।।
nava-dvāraṁ puraṁ puṇyam etair bhāvaiḥ samanvitam | vyāpya śete mahānātmā tasmāt puruṣa ucyate ||
Ipinaliwanag ni Bhīṣma: Sa gayon, ang lahat ng sangkap na ito ang nagdadala ng bigat ng buong daigdig—ng gumagalaw at di-gumagalaw. Lahat ay umaasa sa Kataas-taasang Diyos, ang Paramātman, na lampas sa Prakṛti at walang rajas. At ang banal na ‘lungsod’ na ito—ang katawan na may siyam na pintuan, binubuo ng mga simulain na ito—ay nilulukuban mula sa loob ng Dakilang Sarili; doon Siya ‘namamahinga’ at lumalaganap, bagaman nananatiling hiwalay sa mga sangkap na materyal. Kaya Siya tinatawag na Puruṣa—“ang nananahan sa lungsod (pura)”—ang panloob na tagapamahala na siyang huling sinasandigan ng lahat ng nilalang, gumagalaw man o hindi.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The body is described as a nine-gated ‘city’ made of material constituents, but the true ‘Person’ (Puruṣa) is the great Self that pervades and indwells it while remaining higher than prakṛti and its guṇas. Recognizing the Self as distinct from the body-mind complex is presented as a basis for spiritual discernment and liberation.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and higher knowledge, Bhīṣma teaches Yudhiṣṭhira about the constitution of the embodied being. He uses the metaphor of the body as a city with nine gates and identifies the indwelling, all-pervading Self as ‘Puruṣa,’ grounding ethical steadiness in metaphysical understanding.