Shloka 55
Saṃhāra-krama (The Sequence of Cosmic Dissolution) — Yājñavalkya’s Discourse
विपन्ना धारणास्तात नयन्ति न शुभां गतिम् । नेतृहीना यथा नाव: पुरुषानर्णवे नूप,तात! नरेश्वर! जैसे समुद्रमें बिना नाविककी नाव मनुष्योंको पार नहीं लगा सकती, उसी प्रकार यदि योगकी धारणाएँ सिद्ध न हुईं तो वे शुभगतिकी प्राप्ति नहीं करा सकतीं
vipannā dhāraṇās tāta nayanti na śubhāṃ gatim | netṛhīnā yathā nāvaḥ puruṣān arṇave nṛpa ||
Bhishma said: “O dear one, failed or imperfect disciplines of yogic concentration (dhāraṇā) do not lead a person to an auspicious end. Just as a boat without a helmsman cannot carry people across the ocean, so too, when the practices of dhāraṇā are not properly established, they cannot bring one to the good path or higher attainment.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Spiritual techniques (dhāraṇā and related yogic disciplines) must be properly established and guided; if they are defective or incomplete, they cannot lead to auspicious spiritual progress—just as a boat needs a helmsman to cross the ocean.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs the king on dharma and inner discipline. Here he uses a practical metaphor—an unguided boat at sea—to warn that unguided or failed yogic concentration practices do not yield the promised higher good.