Shloka 40
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
श्रोत्रं वेदयते वेद्यं स शृणोति स पश्यति । कारणं तस्य देहो5यं स कर्ता सर्वकर्मणाम्
śrotraṃ vedayate vedyaṃ sa śṛṇoti sa paśyati | kāraṇaṃ tasya deho 'yaṃ sa kartā sarvakarmaṇām ||
毗湿摩说：“耳根令可知之声成为所知；然而真正听、真正见的，是那内在之我。此身不过是他体验声音及诸感官境界的工具因。正是那一位个体我（jīva）为一切行为之作者。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Perception occurs through sense-organs, but the true experiencer and agent is the inner self (jīva/ātman). The body functions as an instrument (kāraṇa/nimitta) for experiencing objects, while moral responsibility for action is attributed to the self as kartā.
In the Shanti Parva’s post-war instruction, Bhishma continues his philosophical-ethical discourse to Yudhishthira, explaining how cognition and action relate to the senses, the body, and the inner self, grounding ethical accountability in the agent-self rather than in the mere physical body.