Shloka 8
Śāṇḍilī–Sumanā-saṃvāda: Sat-strī-samudācāra and Pati-dharma
Conduct of the Virtuous Wife
आत्मनश्ष् तपोभाग्यं महाभाग्यं तवेह च । पृथगाचरतस्तात पृथगात्मसुखात्मनो: । अल्पान्तरमहं मन्ये विशिष्टमपि चान्वयात्
bhīṣma uvāca | ātmanaś ca tapobhāgyaṁ mahābhāgyaṁ taveha ca | pṛthag ācaratas tāta pṛthag-ātma-sukhātmanoḥ | alpāntaram ahaṁ manye viśiṣṭam api cānvayāt ||
毗湿摩说道：“我在自身之中，看见由苦行而生的福分；而在你这里，也有一种天赋而宏大的吉祥——因为你立于我师之传承之中。然而，亲爱的孩子，你的行止却仿佛在分割本不应分割之物：追求自我安乐的个体之我（我执之我）与至上之我——至我（Paramātman，梵我）。我以为二者之别极其微细；但至我遍满一切、与万有相系，因此我亦视之为更为尊胜。可你既知个体之我与至我本无差别，为何你的举止却背离此见，仿佛你陷入惊异而我却未曾如此？”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma highlights the ethical demand that one’s conduct should align with one’s metaphysical understanding: if one knows the individual self and the Supreme Self to be essentially non-different, one should not act from a sense of separation or self-centered pursuit of happiness. He also notes the Supreme’s ‘superiority’ in a functional sense—its all-pervading connection with all beings—while still treating the ultimate difference as slight.
Bhishma addresses a younger interlocutor affectionately (“tāta”), praising both his own austerity-born merit and the other’s inherited or natural blessedness tied to a guru-lineage. He then gently challenges the other person’s moment of astonishment or inconsistency, pointing out that the person’s behavior seems to contradict his professed view that the individual self is not separate from the Supreme.