Shloka 47
Kṣemadarśa–Kālakavṛkṣīya Saṃvāda: Counsel on Impermanence, Non-attachment, and Composure in Dispossession
नियच्छ यच्छ संयच्छ इन्द्रियाणि मनो गिरम् | प्रतिषेद्धा न चाप्येषु दुर्बलेष्वहितेष्वपि
niyaccha yaccha saṁyaccha indriyāṇi mano giram | pratiṣeddhā na cāpyeṣu durbaleṣv ahiteṣv api
Bhishma said: “Restrain, curb, and firmly discipline your senses, your mind, and your speech. Be one who can refuse and hold back—even in matters that appear weak or harmless, and even when they are in fact unwholesome—so that no lapse is allowed to grow into wrongdoing.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhīṣma teaches rigorous self-restraint: discipline the senses, mind, and speech, and cultivate the capacity to refuse temptations—especially those that seem small or harmless—because minor lapses can lead to harmful outcomes and erosion of dharma.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right conduct. Here he emphasizes inner governance—control of sensory impulses, mental movements, and speech—as a foundation for ethical life and stable kingship.