Shloka 13
दमप्रशंसा — Praise of Self-Restraint
Dama
तद् बीज॑ देहिनामाहुस्तद् बीज॑ जीवसंज्ञितम् । कर्मणा कालयुक्तेन संसारपरिवर्तनम्
tad bījaṁ dehinām āhus tad bījaṁ jīva-saṁjñitam | karmaṇā kāla-yuktena saṁsāra-parivartanam ||
毗湿摩说：“彼（微细之我）被宣称为一切具身众生之种子；同一粒种子，当与自然之诸成分（guṇa）相系时，便名为‘吉瓦’（jīva）。在与时间相连的业力驱使下，它不断在世间生死轮回的转轮中回旋。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies the subtle Self as the causal ‘seed’ of embodied life. When that Self is associated with the guṇas (qualities of nature), it is spoken of as the jīva, and under the impulse of karma operating within time, it continues to revolve through saṁsāra.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhīṣma is teaching Yudhiṣṭhira about the metaphysical basis of bondage: how the individual self, conditioned by guṇas, is propelled by time-linked actions into repeated worldly cycles.