Shloka 14

Dharma-Pramāṇa-Vicāra: The Elusiveness of Dharma and the Limits of Rule-Lists

Devanagari script

पृथग्भूतेषु सृष्टेषु चतुर्थाश्रमकर्मसु । समाधौ योगमेवैतच्छाण्डिल्य: शममब्रवीत्‌,संन्यास आश्रमके कर्म भिन्न-भिन्न प्रकारके बताये गये हैं। उनमें समाधिके विषयमें मैंने जो कुछ बताया है, इसीको शाण्डिल्य मुनिने शमके नामसे (छान्दोग्य&पनिषद्‌ शाण्डिल्य ब्राह्मणमें) कहा है

Transliteration

pṛthagbhūteṣu sṛṣṭeṣu caturthāśramakarmasu | samādhau yogam evaitac chāṇḍilyaḥ śamam abravīt |

Translation

Vyāsa sprach: „Wenn die Wesen als voneinander verschieden erschaffen sind und die Pflichten der vierten Lebensstufe (Entsagung) dargelegt werden, dann ist das, was ich über Samādhi beschrieben habe, genau dies: Yoga selbst — was der Weise Śāṇḍilya in der upanishadischen Lehre ‘śama’ (innere Ruhe) nannte.“

Word by Word

पृथक्separately, distinctly

भूतेषुin the beings / elements

सृष्टेषुwhen created / among the created

चतुर्थfourth

आश्रमin the (four) stages of life

कर्मसुin the duties/acts

समाधौin samādhi

योगम्yoga (concentration/union)

एवindeed, only

एतत्this

शाण्डिल्यःŚāṇḍilya (sage)

शमम्tranquility, calmness (śama)

अब्रवीत्said, declared

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Śāṇḍilya

caturthāśrama (saṃnyāsa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse equates the meditative culmination (samādhi) taught as yoga with the Upaniṣadic virtue called śama—inner calm and mental restraint—showing that renunciant discipline is fundamentally an inward practice of stilling the mind.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Vyāsa clarifies terminology: the same inner practice he has explained under samādhi/yoga is referred to by the sage Śāṇḍilya as śama, linking Mahābhārata teaching with Upaniṣadic discourse.