Shloka 5

Adhyāya 249 — Mṛtyu-prādurbhāvaḥ (The Manifestation of Death) / Restraint of Tejas and Ordered Saṃhāra

Devanagari script

तानि सर्वाणि संधाय मन:षष्ठानि मेधया । आत्मतृप्त इवासीत बहुचिन्त्यमचिन्तयन्‌

Transliteration

tāni sarvāṇi sandhāya manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhāni medhayā | ātma-tṛpta ivāsīt bahu-cintyam acintayan ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: Having gathered and steadied all those faculties—mind as the sixth along with the senses—by the power of discernment, he remained as though satisfied in the Self. Without running after the many things that invite thought, he became free from anxious deliberation, calm and unmoving, established inwardly.

Word by Word

• तानि: those (things)
• तानि: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• सर्वाणि: all
• सर्वाणि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• संधाय: having composed/collected/steadied (having fixed together)
• संधाय: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-धा
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage), Non-finite

• मनःषष्ठानि: having the mind as the sixth (i.e., the five senses with mind as sixth)
• मनःषष्ठानि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मनस्-षष्ठ
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• मेधया: by intelligence
• मेधया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मेधा
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• आत्मतृप्तः: self-satisfied (content in the self)
• आत्मतृप्तः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आत्मतृप्त
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इव: as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• आसीत: was
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस्
• Form: Imperfect (लङ्), 3, Singular, Parasmaipada

• बहुचिन्त्यम्: much-to-be-thought-about, highly thinkable
• बहुचिन्त्यम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहुचिन्त्य
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• अचिन्तयन्: not thinking (while refraining from thought)
• अचिन्तयन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: चिन्त्
• Form: शतृ (present active participle), Present (participle), Singular, Masculine, Nominative

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• ātman (Self)
• mind (manas)
• senses (indriyas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches inward stabilization: collect the senses and mind into unity through discernment (medhā), and rest in self-contentment (ātmatṛpti). Ethical clarity arises when one stops compulsive engagement with countless objects of worry and desire, becoming steady, unagitated, and self-possessed.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa describes a person (contextually, a contemplative or disciplined figure) withdrawing the scattered powers of perception and thought, fixing them through intelligence, and abiding in a state of calm self-satisfaction—no longer chasing or elaborating upon the many thinkable concerns that ordinarily disturb the mind.