Shloka 23
Saṃhāra-krama (The Sequence of Cosmic Dissolution) — Yājñavalkya’s Discourse
तदेव च महास्रोतो विष्टम्भयति वारण: । तद्धद् योगबलं लब्ध्वा व्यूहते विषयान् बहून्,परंतु जलके उसी महान् स्रोतको जैसे गजराज रोक देता है अर्थात् उसमें नहीं बहता, उसी प्रकार योगका महान् बल पाकर योगी भी उन सभी बहुसंख्यक विषयोंको अवरुद्ध कर देता है अर्थात् उनके प्रवाहमें नहीं बहता
tadeva ca mahāsroto viṣṭambhayati vāraṇaḥ | taddhād yogabalaṃ labdhvā vyūhate viṣayān bahūn |
Just as an elephant can block even a mighty current and prevent it from flowing onward, so too, having gained the great strength born of yoga, the yogin restrains the many sense-objects and does not get carried away by their stream.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
True mastery is not merely avoiding objects but gaining yogic strength that can check the powerful ‘current’ of sense-impulses; the disciplined mind does not flow outward into pleasures.
Bhīṣma continues his instruction on dharma and inner discipline, using a vivid simile: as an elephant can obstruct a strong river-current, so a yogin, empowered by yoga, restrains numerous sense-objects and their pull.