Shloka 53
Bhīṣma’s Śara-śayyā Stuti to Vāsudeva and Yogic Preparation for Dehotsarga
Body-Relinquishment
यं च व्यक्तस्थमव्यक्त विचिन्वन्ति महर्षय: । क्षेत्रे क्षेत्रज्ममासीनं तस्मै क्षेत्रात्मने नम:
yaṃ ca vyaktastham avyaktam vicinvanti maharṣayaḥ | kṣetre kṣetrajñam āsīnaṃ tasmai kṣetrātmane namaḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：我礼敬那至上之我——虽为不显，却安住于显现之世；其真实本原为大圣仙恒常探求；祂在一切“田”（经验之境）中端坐为“知田者”——礼敬那作为诸田之魂的自性。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse venerates the Supreme as the inner Knower (kṣetrajña) present in every ‘field’ (kṣetra)—the manifest world and embodied experience—while remaining essentially unmanifest; true wisdom is to seek and recognize this indwelling consciousness.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on peace and right understanding, Bhishma offers a reverential statement that frames ethical life and dharma as grounded in insight into the inner Self/Paramatman, whom sages investigate and whom one should honor.