Shloka 57
छिन्दन्ति पञ्चमं श्वासमल्पाहारतया नृूप,सत्पुरुष क्षमासे क्रोधका, संकल्पके त्यागसे कामका, सत्त्वगुणके सेवनसे निद्राका, प्रमादके त्यागसे भयका तथा अल्पाहारके सेवनद्वारा पाँचवें श्वास-दोषका नाश करते हैं
chindanti pañcamaṃ śvāsaṃ alpāhāratayā nṛpa | satpuruṣāḥ kṣamayā krodhaṃ saṅkalpake tyāgena kāmaṃ sattvaguṇasevanena nidrāṃ pramādatyāgena bhayaṃ tathā alpāhārasevanadvārā pañcamaśvāsadoṣaṃ nāśayanti ||
Bhīṣma said: “O king, disciplined and virtuous persons cut off the ‘fifth’ fault connected with the breath by living on little food. By forbearance they subdue anger; by renouncing compulsive resolve they abandon desire; by cultivating the quality of sattva they overcome sleepiness; by giving up heedlessness they remove fear. Thus, through the practice of moderation in food, they destroy the fifth defect related to the breath.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ethical mastery begins with disciplined habits: patience dissolves anger, renunciation loosens desire, cultivating sattva clears lethargy, abandoning heedlessness removes fear, and moderation in food supports control over deeper physiological-mental disturbances symbolized as a ‘breath-related’ defect.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) on practical means of inner restraint. This verse lists specific antidotes—kṣamā, tyāga, sattva-sevana, and avoidance of pramāda—framed as methods by which noble persons eliminate key inner faults.