Shloka 1003
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
प्रश्लिष्टं चन जानन्ति यथा55प इव पांसव: । इसी तरह ये इन्द्रियाँ और विषय परस्पर एक-दूसरेसे मिल-जुलकर भी नहीं जान सकते। जैसे कि जल और धूल परस्पर मिलकर भी अपने सम्मिश्रणको नहीं जानते
praśliṣṭaṁ ca na jānanti yathā āpa iva pāṁsavaḥ |
毗湿摩阐明道：“即便两物紧密相连，也未必对其结合有所觉知。正如水与尘相和，却不‘知’其混合；同样，诸根与诸境虽恒常接触，却并无能自觉其相合的知。”
भीष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Mere contact between the senses and their objects does not constitute true knowledge; awareness and discernment belong to the conscious knower, so one should cultivate discrimination rather than identify with sensory experience.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing on inner discipline and right understanding; here he uses the image of water mixed with dust to illustrate that the senses and their objects, though conjoined, are not self-aware and cannot ‘know’ their own mixture.