Shloka 13

Doṣa-Parīkṣā and Guṇa-Viveka

Examination of Faults and Discernment of the Guṇas

Devanagari script

मनस्त्वपद्ठतं पूर्वमिन्द्रियार्थनिदर्शकम्‌ । न समक्षगुणापेक्षि निर्गुणस्य निदर्शकम्‌

Transliteration

manas tv apahṛtaṁ pūrvam indriyārtha-nidarśakam | na samakṣa-guṇāpekṣi nirguṇasya nidarśakam ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：心的作用本在指示诸根所缘之境；若它先已被牵引而趋向那些境界，便不能显现无相无德的真实（Nirguṇa）。因为依赖色声等境之诸“质”（guṇa）的心，不能给予对无德原理的直接证见。

Word by Word

• मनः: mind
• मनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मनस्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• अपहृतम्: carried away, distracted
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अप-हृ (हृ)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular, क्त (past passive participle)

• पूर्वम्: previously/first
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पूर्व

• इन्द्रियार्थनिदर्शकम्: that which shows the objects of the senses
• Type: Adjective
• Root: इन्द्रियार्थनिदर्शक
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• समक्षगुणापेक्षि: dependent on manifest qualities (sense-objects)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: समक्षगुणापेक्षिन्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• निर्गुणस्य: of the quality-less (principle)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्गुण
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• निदर्शकम्: revealer/indicator
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निदर्शक
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• manas (mind)
• indriyas (senses)
• indriyārthas (sense-objects)
• nirguṇa-tattva (attributeless Reality)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A mind habituated to sense-objects remains dependent on their qualities and therefore cannot disclose the attributeless (nirguṇa) Reality; inner withdrawal and mastery of the senses are prerequisites for higher realization.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhishma continues advising Yudhishthira by explaining a psychological obstacle to spiritual knowledge: the mind, when already drawn outward by sensory engagement, is unfit to give direct insight into the nirguṇa principle.