Shloka 6
मनुरुवाच — इन्द्रिय-मनः-ज्ञान-क्रमः
Manu on the hierarchy of senses, mind, and knowledge
भीष्म उवाच अत्राप्युदाहरन्तीममितिहासं पुरातनम् । यमस्य यत् पुरावृत्तं कालस्य ब्राह्णस्य च
bhīṣma uvāca | atrāpy udāharantīmam itihāsaṁ purātanam | yamasya yat purāvṛttaṁ kālasya brāhmaṇasya ca || abhidyāpūrvakaṁ japyaṁ kurute yaś ca mohitaḥ | yatrābhidyāṁ sa kurute taṁ vai nirayam ṛcchati ||
Dijo Bhishma: «También aquí los sabios citan un precedente antiguo: un relato de lo que en tiempos remotos ocurrió entre Yama, Kāla y un brāhmaṇa. Quien, engañado, practica el japa con la mente fijada de antemano en el fruto deseado—cualquiera que sea el objeto de su ansia que contemple, a un infierno correspondiente a esa misma ansia, en verdad, va.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Spiritual practice (japa) is ethically determined by intention: when recitation is driven by craving for specific fruits, that very craving binds the practitioner and leads to a correspondingly painful consequence; purity of motive is essential.
Bhishma introduces an ancient illustrative episode involving Yama, personified Time (Kāla), and a Brahmin, using it to warn that deluded, result-obsessed japa becomes a cause of downfall rather than liberation.