Shloka 6
मनुरुवाच — इन्द्रिय-मनः-ज्ञान-क्रमः
Manu on the hierarchy of senses, mind, and knowledge
भीष्म उवाच अत्राप्युदाहरन्तीममितिहासं पुरातनम् । यमस्य यत् पुरावृत्तं कालस्य ब्राह्णस्य च
bhīṣma uvāca | atrāpy udāharantīmam itihāsaṁ purātanam | yamasya yat purāvṛttaṁ kālasya brāhmaṇasya ca || abhidyāpūrvakaṁ japyaṁ kurute yaś ca mohitaḥ | yatrābhidyāṁ sa kurute taṁ vai nirayam ṛcchati ||
Bhishma sprach: „Auch hier führen die Gelehrten ein uraltes Beispiel an—einen alten Bericht über das, was einst zwischen Yama, Kāla und einem Brāhmaṇa geschah. Wer, vom Wahn verblendet, Japa verrichtet und den Geist schon zuvor auf die begehrte Frucht festlegt—welches Objekt des Begehrens er auch immer betrachtet, in eine Hölle, die genau diesem Begehren entspricht, gelangt er wahrlich.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Spiritual practice (japa) is ethically determined by intention: when recitation is driven by craving for specific fruits, that very craving binds the practitioner and leads to a correspondingly painful consequence; purity of motive is essential.
Bhishma introduces an ancient illustrative episode involving Yama, personified Time (Kāla), and a Brahmin, using it to warn that deluded, result-obsessed japa becomes a cause of downfall rather than liberation.