Shloka 9

Śarīrin, Buddhi, and the Limits of Sense-Perception (इन्द्रियबुद्धिशरीरिविचारः)

Devanagari script

विसंचारि निरालम्बं पठ्चद्वारं चलाचलम्‌ । पूर्व ध्यानपथे धीर: समादध्यान्मनो5न्तरा,मन नाना प्रकारके विषयोंमें विचरण करनेवाला है। उसका कोई स्थिर आलम्बन नहीं है। पाँचों ज्ञानेन्द्रियाँ उसके इधर-उधर निकलनेके द्वार हैं तथा वह अत्यन्त चंचल है। ऐसे मनको धीर योगी पुरुष पहले अपने हृदयके भीतर ध्यानमार्ममें एकाग्र करे

Transliteration

visaṃcāri nirālambaṃ pañcadvāraṃ calācalam | pūrvaṃ dhyānapathe dhīraḥ samādhadyān mano 'ntarā ||

Translation

মন নানা বিষয়ত অস্থিৰভাৱে ঘূৰি ফুৰে; তাৰ কোনো স্থিৰ আশ্ৰয় নাই। পাঁচ ইন্দ্ৰিয় তাৰ বাহিৰলৈ ওলাই যোৱাৰ দুৱাৰ, আৰু সি অত্যন্ত চঞ্চল। সেয়ে ধীৰ যোগীয়ে প্ৰথমে এই মনক অন্তৰত—হৃদয়ৰ ধ্যানপথত—স্থাপন কৰি একাগ্ৰ কৰিব।

Word by Word

• {'visaṃcāri': 'wandering about, roaming (especially among objects)', 'nirālambam': 'without support

• lacking a stable resting-place', 'pañcadvāram': 'having five gates (the five senses as outlets)', 'calācalam': 'very unsteady, wavering, fickle', 'pūrvam': 'first, at the outset', 'dhyānapatha': 'the path/track of meditation

• inner contemplative course', 'dhīraḥ': 'steadfast, self-possessed, wise person', 'samādhadyāt': 'should fix/compose/collect (the mind)

• should concentrate', 'manaḥ': 'mind', 'antarā': 'within, inwardly (in the interior)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• mind (manas)
• five senses (pañcadvāra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The mind is naturally unstable and escapes outward through the five senses; therefore the yogin must deliberately gather it inward and fix it on the inner path of meditation, establishing one-pointed concentration.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on spiritual discipline and inner governance after the war; here he describes the mind’s restless nature and prescribes the first practical step of yoga—turning the mind inward and concentrating it in meditation.