Shloka 26
Adhyāya 214: Tapas Redefined—Perpetual Discipline, Hospitality, and the Ethics of Eating (तपः-निरूपणम्, विघसाशी-अतिथिप्रिय-धर्मः)
जो केवल शरीरकी रक्षाके लिये भोजन आदि कर्म करता है, वह अभ्यासके बलसे गुणोंकी साम्यावस्थारूप निर्विकल्प समाधि प्राप्त करके मनके द्वारा मनोवहा नाड़ीको संयममें रखते हुए अन्तकालनमें प्राणोंको सुषुम्णा मार्गसे ले जाकर संसार-बन्धनसे मुक्त हो जाता है ।।
yaḥ kevalaṁ śarīra-rakṣāyai bhojanādi karma karoti, sa abhyāsa-balena guṇānāṁ sāmyāvasthā-rūpāṁ nirvikalpāṁ samādhiṁ prāpya manasā manovahā-nāḍīṁ saṁyamya anta-kāle prāṇān suṣumnā-mārgeṇa nītvā saṁsāra-bandhanāt mucyate. bhavitā manaso jñānaṁ mana eva prajāyate. jyotiṣmad virajo nityaṁ mantra-siddhaṁ mahātmanām; teṣāṁ mahātmanāṁ manasi tattva-jñānasyodayaḥ bhavati, praṇavopāsanayā pariśuddhaṁ manaḥ nityaṁ prakāśamayaṁ nirmalaṁ ca bhavati.
Bhishma says: One who performs acts such as taking food solely to preserve the body, and not for indulgence, gains—through the strength of sustained practice—the non-conceptual absorption that is the equilibrium of the qualities. With the mind he restrains the mind-bearing channel, and at the final moment he guides the vital breaths through the suṣumnā path, thereby becoming free from the bondage of worldly existence. Knowledge is to arise from the mind, and indeed is born in the mind itself. For great-souled ones, the mind—made radiant, stainless, ever-luminous, and perfected through mantra—gives rise to true insight; because by worship of the Praṇava (Oṁ) their mind becomes purified, continually shining and clear.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moderation and disciplined practice purify the mind: when actions like eating are done only for bodily maintenance, sustained yoga leads to non-conceptual samādhi, and purified mind—especially through Praṇava (Oṁ) practice—becomes luminous and capable of liberating knowledge, culminating in release from saṁsāra.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma continues advising on yogic liberation: he describes the yogin’s restraint of inner channels and the guiding of prāṇa through suṣumnā at death, then explains that true knowledge arises in a mind purified and empowered by mantra, particularly by devotion to Oṁ.