Shanti Parva Adhyaya 214 Shloka 19 - Mahabharata | Assamese | Vedapath

Vyasa

Shloka 19

Adhyāya 214: Tapas Redefined—Perpetual Discipline, Hospitality, and the Ethics of Eating (तपः-निरूपणम्, विघसाशी-अतिथिप्रिय-धर्मः)

Devanagari script

मध्ये च हृदयस्यैका शिरा तत्र मनोवहा । शुक्रे संकल्पजं नृणां सर्वगात्रै्विमुड्चति

Transliteration

madhye ca hṛdayasyaikā śirā tatra manovahā | śukre saṅkalpajaṃ nṛṇāṃ sarvagātrair vimucyati ||

Translation

হৃদয়ৰ একেবাৰে মধ্যভাগত ‘মনোবহা’ নামে এটা একক নাড়ী আছে—যি মনক বহন কৰে। পুৰুষৰ ভিতৰত কাম-বিষয়ক সংকল্প জাগিলে, সি শুক্ৰৰ ওপৰত ক্ৰিয়া কৰি, দেহৰ সকলো অঙ্গৰ পৰা তাক টানি আনি বাহিৰলৈ নিৰ্গত কৰায়।

Word by Word

मध्येin the middle

चand

हृदयस्यof the heart

एकाone (single)

शिराvein/channel (nāḍī)

तत्रthere

मनोवहाmind-carrying

शुक्रेin semen

संकल्पजम्born of intention/resolve

नृणाम्of men

सर्वगात्रैःby/through all the limbs

विमुञ्चतिreleases/lets out

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

hṛdaya (heart)

manovahā śirā (mind-carrying channel)

śukra (semen)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse links mental intention (saṅkalpa), especially desire-oriented resolve, with bodily processes, implying an ethical lesson: mastery of the mind is crucial for mastery of the senses and for brahmacarya/self-restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction in the Śānti Parva, he explains a traditional mind–body mechanism: a ‘manovahā’ channel in the heart is said to transmit mental resolve and thereby affect the movement and discharge of semen throughout the body.