Shloka 43
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
नदीष्वापो यथा युक्ता यथा सूर्ये मरीचय: । संततत्वाद् यथा यान्ति तथा देहा: शरीरिणाम्
nadīṣv āpo yathā yuktā yathā sūrye marīcayaḥ | saṃtatatvād yathā yānti tathā dehāḥ śarīriṇām ||
毗湿摩说：“正如水恒与诸河相连，光芒恒与太阳相连——由于这种不断绝的联系，它们随河而行、随日而行——同样，有身众生的诸身（微细之身）亦与个体我相系，随其来去而相伴。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the continuity of the self’s association with a subtle embodiment: as water is inseparable from a river’s flow and rays from the sun, so the subtle body remains linked to the individual self and accompanies it through movement—i.e., through transitions such as departure and return in saṃsāra.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation and the nature of the self, Bhishma explains metaphysical principles to Yudhiṣṭhira using vivid analogies. Here he illustrates how the embodied being’s subtle vehicle remains continuously connected to the self, accompanying it across states and journeys.