Shloka 13
दमप्रशंसा — Praise of Self-Restraint
Dama
तद् बीज॑ देहिनामाहुस्तद् बीज॑ जीवसंज्ञितम् । कर्मणा कालयुक्तेन संसारपरिवर्तनम्
tad bījaṁ dehinām āhus tad bījaṁ jīva-saṁjñitam | karmaṇā kāla-yuktena saṁsāra-parivartanam ||
اسی (اَویَکت) کو جسم دار جانداروں کا بیج کہا گیا ہے؛ اور جب وہ گُنوں کے سنگ سے وابستہ ہو تو وہی بیج ‘جیو’ کے نام سے پہچانا جاتا ہے۔ زمان (کال) کے ساتھ جُڑے کرم کی تحریک سے وہ سنسار کے چکر میں برابر گردش کرتا رہتا ہے۔
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies the subtle Self as the causal ‘seed’ of embodied life. When that Self is associated with the guṇas (qualities of nature), it is spoken of as the jīva, and under the impulse of karma operating within time, it continues to revolve through saṁsāra.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhīṣma is teaching Yudhiṣṭhira about the metaphysical basis of bondage: how the individual self, conditioned by guṇas, is propelled by time-linked actions into repeated worldly cycles.