Shloka 23
मनु-उपदेशः — भूत-उत्पत्ति, इन्द्रिय-निवृत्ति, तथा पर-स्वभाव-विवेकः
Manu’s Instruction on Elemental Origination, Sense-Withdrawal, and Discrimination of the Supreme Nature
एवं नराणां मनसि त्रिषु भावेष्ववस्थिता
evaṁ narāṇāṁ manasi triṣu bhāveṣv avasthitā; sā bhāvātmikā buddhiḥ samādhi-avasthāyāṁ sukha-duḥkha-moha—etān trīn bhāvān laṅghayati; yathā saritāṁ svāmī samudraḥ uttāla-taraṅgaiḥ saṁyuktaḥ san svāṁ vipulāṁ taṭabhūmim api kadācid laṅghayati.
Dijo Bhīṣma: Así, en la mente humana mora como tres disposiciones. Pero ese mismo intelecto, moldeado por tales disposiciones, cuando entra en la concentración profunda, sobrepasa las tres: placer, dolor y engaño. Es como el océano, señor de los ríos: unido a olas altísimas, a veces se desborda más allá incluso de su vasta orilla.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that although the mind commonly functions through three affective conditions—pleasure, pain, and delusion—the discriminative intellect can, in samādhi, transcend these fluctuations. Ethical steadiness arises when one is no longer driven by these inner tides.
Bhishma continues his instruction in the Shanti Parva by explaining the psychology of inner states and the possibility of surpassing them through meditative absorption, illustrating the point with a vivid image of the ocean overflowing its shores when stirred by great waves.