Shloka 176
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
यदि वाप्यस्पृशन्त्या मे स्पर्श जानासि कठ्चन । ज्ञानं कृतमबीजं ते कथं तेनेह भिक्षुणा
yadi vāpy aspṛśantyā me sparśaṁ jānāsi kaścana | jñānaṁ kṛtam abījaṁ te kathaṁ teneha bhikṣuṇā ||
Wika ni Bhishma: “Kahit hindi kita hinahawakan, kung igigiit mong nararamdaman mo pa rin ang aking haplos sa anumang paraan, kailangan kong itanong: paano nagtagumpay ang pulubing-asceta, ang pantas na si Pañcaśikha, na maipamana sa iyo rito ang tunay na kaalaman? Sapagkat ginawa mong ‘walang binhi’ ang kaalamang iyon—hindi na mamumunga—sa pagkapit mo sa guniguni ng damdamin at sa maling pagkaunawa.”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma criticizes a mind that mistakes imagined sensation for reality. If one remains trapped in sensory fixation and confusion, even profound instruction becomes “abīja” (seedless)—it cannot mature into realization or ethical transformation.
Bhīṣma addresses an interlocutor who claims to feel ‘touch’ despite no contact. Using this as evidence of delusion, he questions how the ascetic teacher Pañcaśikha could have successfully transmitted liberating knowledge, since the listener’s misunderstanding has made that teaching fruitless.