Shloka 167
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
श्रुतं ते न श्रुतं मन्ये मृषा वापि श्रुतं श्रुतम् । अथवा श्रुतसंकाशं श्रुतमन्यच्छुतं त्वया
śrutaṁ te na śrutaṁ manye mṛṣā vāpi śrutaṁ śrutam | athavā śrutasaṅkāśaṁ śrutam anyac chrutaṁ tvayā ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Sa palagay ko, ang ‘narinig’ mo ay sa katotohanan ay hindi mo talaga narinig; o kung narinig mo man, ginawa mong kasinungalingan ang pagdinig na iyon. O marahil, sa halip ay nakinig ka sa ibang aral na kahawig lamang ng tunay na śruti—isang bagay na mukha lang Veda.”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Mere exposure to scripture is not enough: one must truly comprehend and live it. Otherwise, ‘hearing’ becomes empty, distorted into falsehood, or replaced by teachings that only imitate Vedic authority.
Bhīṣma rebukes his interlocutor’s claim to learning, suggesting that the person either failed to grasp what was taught, deliberately twisted it, or followed a doctrine that only appears to be genuine śruti.