Shloka 33
रस-ज्ञानके समय मन ही यह रसना (जिह्ला)-रूप हो जाता है तथा बोलनेके समय वह मन ही वागिन्द्रिय कहलाता है। इस प्रकार भिन्न-भिन्न इन्द्रियोंके साथ मिलकर उन सबके रूपमें मन ही व्यका होता है ।। विद्यात् तु षोडशैतानि दैवतानि विभागश: । देहेषु ज्ञानकर्तारमुपासीनमुपासते,दस इन्द्रिय, पञजच महाभूत और एक मन--ये सोलह तत्त्व इस शरीरमें विभागपूर्वक रहते हैं। इनको देवतारूप जानना चाहिये। शरीरके भीतर जो ज्ञान प्रकट करनेवाला परमात्माके निकटस्थ जीवात्मा है, उसकी ये सोलहों देवता उपासना करते हैं
rasajñāne samaye mana eva rasanā (jihvā)-rūpo bhavati tathā bolanā-samaye mana eva vāgindriyaḥ kathyate | evaṁ bhinna-bhinnendriyaiḥ saha saṁyujya teṣāṁ sarveṣāṁ rūpeṣu mana eva vyajyate || vidyāt tu ṣoḍaśaitāni daivatāni vibhāgaśaḥ | deheṣu jñānakartāram upāsīnam upāsate || daśendriyāṇi pañca mahābhūtāni caikaṁ manaḥ—etāni ṣoḍaśa tattvāni śarīre vibhāga-pūrvakaṁ tiṣṭhanti | etāni daivatā-rūpāṇi jñeyāni | śarīrāntarvartī yaḥ jñānaṁ prakāśayati paramātma-sannihitaḥ jīvātmā, taṁ etāni ṣoḍaśa daivatāni upāsate ||
Bhishma said: At the time of tasting, the mind itself becomes the tongue; at the time of speaking, that very mind is called the organ of speech. Thus, joining with the various senses, the mind alone manifests in the form of them all. Know, moreover, these sixteen as distinct deities: within bodies they abide in their respective divisions and worship the indwelling knower who is seated near the Supreme Self. The ten senses, the five great elements, and the one mind—these sixteen principles dwell in the body in an ordered distribution. They should be understood as divine powers. These deities, in turn, revere the inner individual self, proximate to the Supreme, by whom knowledge is made manifest within the body.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the mind is the central coordinator that appears as different faculties—taste, speech, and other senses—depending on function. It also frames the body as constituted by sixteen principles (ten senses, five elements, and mind), understood as divine powers that ultimately revere the inner knower (jīvātman) who manifests knowledge in proximity to the Supreme Self.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on inner constitution and liberation-oriented knowledge, Bhishma explains to his listener a philosophical account of how cognition operates: the mind takes on the role of particular sense-faculties, and the body’s constituents are treated as presiding deities oriented toward the indwelling conscious self.