Shloka 12
Varāha-avatāra: Viṣṇu’s subterranean intervention and the cosmic nāda (Śānti-parva 202)
यथा च वक्चित् परशुं गृहीत्वा धूमं न पश्येज्ज्वलनं च काछ्े । तद्वच्छरीरोदरपाणिपादं छित्त्वा न पश्यन्ति ततो यदन्यत्
yathā ca vakcit paraśuṁ gṛhītvā dhūmaṁ na paśyej jvalanaṁ ca kāṣṭhe | tadvac charīrodarapāṇipādaṁ chittvā na paśyanti tato yad anyat ||
毗湿摩说：“譬如有人执斧劈木，于其木中既不见火，亦不见烟；同样，即便剖开此身之腹，或斩断手足，也不能因此见到那‘别样’的真实——与身体有别、内住为证的我（自性之我）。此教示在于：我并非以暴力或解剖即可显现之物；唯由正知与内在修持而得知，非以伤害身体而得。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Self (ātman), the inner witness distinct from the body, cannot be perceived through physical cutting or violence; it is known through discernment and inner realization. The verse rejects the idea that the deepest reality is discoverable by merely examining or harming the body.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on dharma and higher knowledge. Here he uses an analogy—splitting wood does not reveal fire or smoke—to explain that mutilating the body does not reveal the indwelling Self, emphasizing a shift from external action to inner understanding.