Shloka 31
अध्याय १७८ — प्राणवायुगतिः तथा शारीराग्निव्यवस्था
Adhyāya 178 — The courses of prāṇa-vāyu and the regulation of the bodily fire
सर्वभूतान्यहं देहे पश्यन् मनसि चात्मन: । योगे बुद्धि श्रुते सत्त्वं मनो ब्रह्मणि धारयन्
sarvabhūtāny ahaṁ dehe paśyan manasi cātmanaḥ | yoge buddhiṁ śrute sattvaṁ mano brahmaṇi dhārayan |
Bhīṣma said: “Seeing all beings within my own body and within the mind as the Self, I will steady my intellect in yoga, fix my inner purity and resolve in the disciplines of sacred learning (listening and reflection), and hold my mind in Brahman. Thus, free from illness and grief and abiding in happiness, I shall move through all worlds without attachment—so that you may no longer cast me again into such suffering.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches an inward yogic discipline: perceive all beings in the Self, stabilize the intellect through yoga, cultivate sattva through scriptural listening and reflection, and fix the mind in Brahman. The ethical outcome is freedom from grief and suffering through non-attachment and steady contemplation.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma continues his instruction on dharma and liberation. Here he describes his resolve to practice yoga and Brahman-contemplation so as to become unattached and unshaken by sorrow—addressing a force/personified cause of suffering implied by the closing remark (“so that you may not place me again in such pains”).