Shloka 9
मनुरुवाच — इन्द्रिय-मनः-ज्ञान-क्रमः
Manu on the hierarchy of senses, mind, and knowledge
यथा संश्रूयते राजन् कारणं चात्र वक्ष्यते,दुर्बद्धिरकृतप्रज्ञश्नले मनसि तिष्ठति । चलामेव गति याति निरयं वा नियच्छति जिसकी बुद्धि भोगोंमें आसक्तिके कारण दूषित है तथा जो विवेकशील नहीं है, वह जापक यदि मनके चंचल रहते हुए ही जप करता है तो विनाशशील गतिको प्राप्त होता है अथवा नरकमें गिरता है। अर्थात् विनाशशील या स्वर्गांदि विचलित स्वभाववाले लोकोंको प्राप्त होता है या तिर्यक्-योनियोंमें जाता है
yathā saṁśrūyate rājan kāraṇaṁ cātra vakṣyate | durbaddhir akṛtaprajñaś cale manasi tiṣṭhati || calām eva gatiṁ yāti nirayaṁ vā niyacchati ||
Bhīṣma said: “O King, it is heard thus—and I shall also state the reason here. A person of misguided understanding, lacking true discernment, remains with a restless, wavering mind. Such a one, even while engaged in japa, attains only an unstable, perishable course of destiny, or else is driven down into hell.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Spiritual practice (such as japa) bears fruit only when guided by discernment and steadiness of mind; if the intellect is corrupted and the mind remains restless, the result is an unstable destiny or even a fall into suffering states.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīṣma continues a moral-psychological teaching: he explains, with reasons, how flawed understanding and mental fickleness undermine religious practice and lead to adverse outcomes.