Shloka 11
Doṣa-Parīkṣā and Guṇa-Viveka
Examination of Faults and Discernment of the Guṇas
जिस समय बुद्धि कर्म-संस्कारोंसे रहित होकर हृदयमें स्थित हो जाती है, उसी समय ध्यानयोगजनित समाधिके द्वारा ब्रह्मका भलीभाँति ज्ञान हो जाता है ।।
bhīṣma uvāca | yasmin kāle buddhiḥ karma-saṃskārair virahitā hṛdaye pratiṣṭhitā bhavati, tasmin kāle dhyāna-yoga-janitena samādhinā brahmaṇaḥ samyag jñānaṃ prajāyate || seyaṃ guṇavatī buddhiḥ guṇeṣv evābhivartate | aparādāt abhiniḥsṛtya gireḥ śuddhād iva udakam, anyathā | yathā jaladhārā parvata-śikhara-nirgatyā ḍhālaṃ prati pravahati, tathā iyaṃ guṇavatī buddhiḥ ajñāna-kāraṇāt paramātmanā niyuktā rūpādi-guṇān prati pravṛttā bhavati ||
毗湿摩说道：当智（buddhi）脱离业之余习，安然建立于心中，则由禅修之瑜伽所生的入定，真实的梵知便随之生起。然而此智只要仍受诸性（guṇa）所制，便唯向诸性而转：譬如清水之流自山巅涌出，顺坡而下；同样，受性所缚之心因无明而偏离至上自性，遂流向色相等诸质，执著于现象之世。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
True knowledge of Brahman arises when buddhi becomes free from karma-saṃskāras and is stabilized inwardly; otherwise, a guṇa-conditioned intellect naturally runs toward guṇas—i.e., toward sensory and conceptual objects—due to ignorance.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation, Bhīṣma explains to the listener how meditation-born samādhi yields realization, and he illustrates the mind’s outward drift with the image of water flowing down a mountain slope toward lower ground.