Shloka 164

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

यं विनिद्रा जितश्वासा: सत्त्वस्था: संयतेन्द्रिया: । ज्योतिः पश्यन्ति युञ्जानास्तस्मै योगात्मने नम:,जो निद्राके वशीभूत न होकर प्राणोंपर विजय पा चुके हैं और इन्द्रियोंको जीतकर सत्त्वगुणमें स्थित हैं, ऐसे योगीलोग ध्यानमें जिस ज्योतिर्मय तत्त्वका साक्षात्कार करते हैं, उस योगात्मा परमेश्वरको नमस्कार है

Transliteration

yaṁ vinidrā jitaśvāsāḥ sattvasthāḥ saṁyatendriyāḥ | jyotiḥ paśyanti yuñjānās tasmai yogātmane namaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: Salutation to that Supreme Lord, the very Self of Yoga—whom disciplined yogins behold as a radiant inner Light when they practice meditation: those who are not overcome by sleep, who have mastered the life-breath, who are established in sattva, and who have restrained their senses.

Word by Word

• {'yaṁ': 'whom (relative pronoun

• the one who is perceived)', 'vinidrāḥ': 'free from sleep / not overpowered by sleep

• wakeful, vigilant', 'jita-śvāsāḥ': 'having conquered the breath

• masters of prāṇāyāma and vital control', 'sattva-sthāḥ': 'established in sattva (clarity, purity, balance)', 'saṁyata-indriyāḥ': 'with restrained senses

• self-controlled', 'jyotiḥ': 'light

• inner illumination', 'paśyanti': 'they see

• they directly perceive', 'yuñjānāḥ': 'engaging in yoga

• practicing concentration/meditation', 'tasmai': 'to him

• unto that (divine principle)', 'yoga-ātmane': 'to the Yoga-Self

• to the Lord whose essence is yoga / the inner Self realized by yoga', 'namaḥ': 'salutation

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• yogins (yogī)
• jyotis (inner light)
• yogātman (the Yoga-Self / Supreme Lord)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that through vigilance (not succumbing to sleep), mastery of breath, restraint of the senses, and establishment in sattva, a yogin attains direct perception of the inner divine Light; the proper response to that realized reality is reverent salutation and devotion.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and higher spiritual disciplines. Here he offers a devotional praise (namas) to the Supreme principle realized in yoga, describing the qualities of practitioners who perceive that radiant truth in meditation.