Shloka 16
दमप्रशंसा — Praise of Self-Restraint
Dama
शब्दरागाच्छोत्रमस्य जायते भावितात्मन: । रूपरागात् तथा चक्षुप्राणं गन्धचिकीर्षया
śabdarāgāc chotram asya jāyate bhāvitātmanaḥ | rūparāgāt tathā cakṣuḥ prāṇaṃ gandha-cikīrṣayā ||
Bhishma said: In a person whose inner being has been shaped by prior impressions, attachment to sound gives rise to the faculty of hearing. Attachment to form similarly brings forth the faculty of sight; and the impulse to apprehend fragrance brings forth the organ of smell. Thus, the senses manifest in accordance with the mind’s inclinations and desires.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the senses are not merely physical givens; they manifest and operate in line with the mind’s attachments—craving for sound, form, and fragrance conditions the arising and strengthening of hearing, sight, and smell. Ethically, it points to desire (rāga) as a root that shapes perception and bondage.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction, Bhishma is explaining to the listener a causal account of how sensory faculties arise in embodied beings, linking each sense to a corresponding attachment or desire, as part of a broader teaching on mind, conduct, and liberation-oriented understanding.