Shloka 15
इन्द्रियैरिन्द्रियार्थान् यश्चरत्यात्मवशैरिह । असज्जमान: शान्तात्मा निर्विकार: समाहित:,जो अपने वशमें की हुई इन्द्रियोंके द्वारा यहाँ अनासक्त भावसे विषयोंका अनुभव करता है, जिसका चित्त शान्त, निर्विकार और एकाग्र है तथा जो आत्मस्वरूप प्रतीत होनेवाले देह और इन्द्रियाँ हैं, उनके साथ रहकर भी उनसे तद्रूप न हो अलग-सा ही रहता है, वह मुक्त है और उसे बहुत शीघ्र परम कल्याणकी प्राप्ति होती है
indriyair indriyārthān yaś caraty ātmavaśair iha | asajjamānaḥ śāntātmā nirvikāraḥ samāhitaḥ ||
Nārada said: He who, with senses brought under the governance of the Self, experiences the objects of the senses in this world without clinging—whose inner being is calm, unperturbed, and steadily collected—though dwelling amid body and senses that appear as the self, remains distinct from them and does not become identical with them. Such a person is liberated, and very quickly attains the highest good.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
True freedom is not the absence of sensory experience but the absence of attachment: when the senses are governed by the Self, one can engage with sense-objects without clinging. Such steadiness—calm (śāntātmā), unmodified (nirvikāra), and concentrated (samāhita)—marks liberation and leads swiftly to the highest good.
Within the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Nārada is speaking as a teacher, defining the liberated person. He describes how a wise individual lives amid body and senses yet remains inwardly separate from identification with them, thereby attaining mokṣa-oriented welfare.