Shloka 51
अव्यक्त-मानस-सृष्टिवादः
Doctrine of Creation from the Unmanifest ‘Mānasa’
यदा संहरते कामान् कूर्मोडज़ानीव सर्वश: । तदा>5>त्मज्योतिरात्मायमात्मन्येव प्रपश्यति
yadā saṁharate kāmān kūrmo 'ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ | tadā ātmajyotir ātmāyam ātmany eva prapaśyati ||
The Brāhmaṇa said: When a person withdraws desires completely—just as a tortoise draws in its limbs on every side—then this self, established in inner clarity, directly beholds within itself the Self that is pure light.
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Desires and sense-impulses must be gathered back through restraint; when craving is withdrawn, the mind becomes clear and the self directly realizes the self-luminous Ātman within.
In the Śānti Parva’s instructional discourse, a Brāhmaṇa speaker uses the tortoise metaphor to explain the inward turn of discipline: withdrawing outward-running desires leads to inner vision and realization of the supreme Self.