Shloka 27
ध्यानयोगवर्णनम्
Description of the Path of Meditation
न जीवनाशो<स्ति हि देहभेदे मिथ्यैतदाहुर्मुत इत्यबुद्धा: । जीवस्तु देहान्तरित: प्रयाति दशार्धतैवास्यथ शरीरभेद:
bharadvāja uvāca | na jīvanāśo 'sti hi dehabhede mithyaitad āhur mṛta ity abuddhāḥ | jīvas tu dehāntaritaḥ prayāti daśārdhataivāsyatha śarīrabhedaḥ |
身躯崩解之时，生命之我（jīva）并不毁灭。凡言“他已死”者，皆无知，其言虚妄。jīva 舍此身而趋入他身。所谓身之“死”，不过是其诸成分之分离散落而已。
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the continuity of the jīva: bodily death is merely the dissolution of the material body, while the living self is not annihilated and proceeds to another embodiment. Therefore, declaring the self ‘dead’ is ignorance, and true understanding supports detachment and steadiness in the face of mortality.
In Śānti Parva’s reflective instruction, Bharadvāja articulates a doctrinal point about death: he corrects the common notion that a person truly perishes at bodily death, explaining instead that only the body’s elements separate while the jīva continues onward.