Shloka 16
Jāpakānāṃ Gatiḥ — The Destinies of Japa-Practitioners (Śānti Parva 12.190)
अविस्रम्भे न गन्तव्यं विस्रम्भे धारयेन्मन: । मन: प्राणे निगृह्नलीयात् प्राणं ब्रह्मणि धारयेत्,जो विश्वासके योग्य नहीं है, उस मार्गपर न चले और जो विश्वास करनेयोग्य है, उसमें मन लगावे। मनको प्राणमें और प्राणको ब्रह्ममें स्थापित करे
aviśrambhe na gantavyaṃ viśrambhe dhārayen manaḥ | manaḥ prāṇe nigṛhṇīyāt prāṇaṃ brahmaṇi dhārayet |
Bharadvāja said: One should not proceed on a path where trust is absent; where trust is well placed, there one should steady the mind. Let the mind be restrained and gathered into the vital breath, and let the vital breath be fixed in Brahman. Thus, ethical discernment in human dealings culminates in inner discipline and spiritual absorption.
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
Exercise discernment about whom and what to trust in worldly conduct, and then turn inward: steady the mind, restrain it by anchoring it in the breath, and finally establish the breath (life-force) in Brahman—moving from ethical prudence to meditative absorption.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction-oriented setting, Bharadvāja delivers a concise counsel that links practical dharma (not acting where trust is absent) with yogic discipline (mind into breath, breath into Brahman), presenting a graded method of inner stabilization.