Shloka 4
इन्द्र–बलि संवादः
The Dialogue of Indra and Bali on Fortune, Humility, and Restraint
अत्राह को न्वयं भाव: स्वप्ने विषयवानिव । प्रलीनैरिन्द्रियैदेही वर्तते देहवानिव
atrāha ko nv ayaṃ bhāvaḥ svapne viṣayavān iva | pralīnair indriyaiḥ dehī vartate dehavān iva ||
Wika ni Bhishma: “Dito’y itinataas ang isang pag-aalinlangan: ano ang katayuan ng karanasan sa panaginip na wari’y may tunay na mga bagay? Sapagkat sa panaginip, ang mga pandama ay nalulusaw (hindi gumagana), at gayunman ang sarili na may katawan ay kumikilos na para bang may katawan at gumagala sa gitna ng mga bagay na nadarama. Kaya ang panaginip ay hindi basta tunay ni basta huwad; inihaharap ang tanong na ito upang luminaw ang likas ng karanasan at ng sarili.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a philosophical problem: in dream, experiences appear object-filled and embodied, even though the senses are inactive. This challenges simple labels of ‘real’ or ‘unreal’ and prepares the ground for inquiry into how consciousness constructs experience and what the self is apart from sensory operation.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on liberation-oriented wisdom, Bhishma introduces (or reports) a pūrvapakṣa-style doubt: if dream-objects are not present and the senses are merged, how does the experiencer still act as if embodied? The question sets up the subsequent resolution about the nature of perception, mind, and the self.