Shloka 6
जनकस्य मोक्षमार्गप्रश्नः तथा पञ्चशिखोपदेश-प्रस्तावः | Janaka’s Path to Liberation: Prelude to Pañcaśikha’s Instruction
पूर्व नित्यं सर्वगतं मनोहेतुमलक्षणम् । अज्ञानकर्म निर्दिषप्टमेतत् कारणलक्षणम्
pūrvaṁ nityaṁ sarvagataṁ manohetum alakṣaṇam | ajñānakarma nirdiṣṭam etat kāraṇalakṣaṇam ||
毗湿摩说：真我在万有之前已然存在——常住不灭，遍一切处，是心识生起的根基，却又无可标记、无可界定。此世间一切之因基，被教示为与无明与业（karma）相系，乃由此特征之条件而令显现之存在得以流出。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts the primacy of the Atman: it is beginningless, eternal, all-pervading, and not definable by ordinary attributes. The manifested causal order of the world is explained in relation to ignorance (ajñāna) and action (karma), implying that bondage and worldly causation persist where ignorance and karmic momentum operate, while the Self itself remains untouched.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Bhishma continues his philosophical teaching to Yudhishthira, describing the nature of the Self and the causal basis of worldly experience, shifting the focus from external duties to inner knowledge that leads toward liberation.