Shloka 6
Varāha-avatāra: Viṣṇu’s subterranean intervention and the cosmic nāda (Śānti-parva 202)
यतो गृहीत्वा हि करोति यच्च यस्मिंश्व॒ तामारभते प्रवृत्तिम् । यस्मिंश्व॒ यद् येन च यश्न कर्ता यत् कारणं ते समुदायमाहु:
yato gṛhītvā hi karoti yac ca yasmiṃś ca tām ārabhate pravṛttim | yasmiṃś ca yad yena ca yaś ca kartā yat kāraṇaṃ te samudāyam āhuḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：“人所执取而后付诸行动的动机；人所开启的外向作为之途；行事之处所与境遇；所作之业、成办之方法，以及作者其人——并一切诸缘背后的根本因——圣贤宣说：此一切聚合皆依一唯一的内在原则而立。那使诸行动要素得其形相与统摄的根本原因，即至上梵（Brahman），亦是一切众生之内我。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames action as an aggregate of factors—motive, undertaking, context, deed, instrument, and doer—and points to a deeper, unifying cause behind them all. The sages identify that foundational cause as the Supreme Brahman/Paramatman, the reality that underlies and makes intelligible the whole field of agency and causation.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma continues his discourse to Yudhishthira on dharma and right understanding. Here he shifts from practical ethics to a philosophical analysis of action, explaining how seers interpret the components of human activity and trace them back to an ultimate metaphysical ground.