Shloka 15
Varāha-avatāra: Viṣṇu’s subterranean intervention and the cosmic nāda (Śānti-parva 202)
उत्पत्तिवृद्धिव्ययसंनिपातै- न युज्यतेडसौ परम: शरीरी । अनेन लिड्जेन तु लिड्रमन्यद् गच्छत्यदृष्ट: फलसंनियोगात्
utpatti-vṛddhi-vyaya-sannipātaiḥ na yujyate ’sau paramaḥ śarīrī | anena liṅgena tu liṅgam anyad gacchaty adṛṣṭaḥ phala-sanniyogāt ||
毗湿摩说：“至上的有身之我，并不与出生、成长、衰败、死亡等诸相相系。然那不可见的个体（众生），系缚于微细身，由先前所作之业的果报牵连，遂迁入另一具身。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The highest Self (ātman) is intrinsically untouched by bodily states—birth, growth, decay, and death. Transmigration happens not to the pure Self as such, but to the individual under ignorance, carried along with the subtle body and propelled by the causal linkage of karma and its fruits.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction, Bhīṣma continues his philosophical teaching to Yudhiṣṭhira, explaining how the Self differs from the body and why beings take new bodies: due to ignorance and the binding force of past actions’ results.