Shloka 38
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
अजर: सो<मरश्वैव व्यक्ताव्यक्तोपदेशवान् | व्यापक: सगुण: सूक्ष्म: सर्वभूतगुणाश्रय:
ajaraḥ so 'maraś caiva vyaktāvyaktopadeśavān | vyāpakaḥ saguṇaḥ sūkṣmaḥ sarvabhūtaguṇāśrayaḥ ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: Ang Kataas-taasang Puruṣa ay malaya sa pagkabulok at kamatayan. Itinuturo Niya ang nahahayag at ang di-nahahayag, lumalaganap sa lahat; at bagaman napakapinong-maselan, Siya ang sandigan ng mga katangian ng bawat nilalang. Taglay ang mga katangiang gaya ng ganap na pagkaalam, Siya ang panloob na tagapag-udyok ng lahat ng simulain—magaspang man o maselan—at ang kanlungang kinaroroonan ng lahat ng nilalang at ng kanilang mga katangian.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse defines the Supreme Person as beyond aging and death, all-pervading and subtle, yet the foundational support of all beings and their qualities; it frames ultimate reality as both transcendent (unmanifest) and immanent (manifest), and as the inner ground of ethical and spiritual life.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhishma continues his discourse to Yudhishthira by describing the nature of the Supreme Purusha—highlighting divine immortality, omnipresence, and the role of the Supreme as the substratum of the world and its qualities.