Shloka 14
दमप्रशंसा — Praise of Self-Restraint
Dama
रमत्ययं यथा स्वप्रे मनसा देहवानिव । कर्मगर्भर्गुणैदेही गर्भे तदुपलभ्यते
ramaty ayaṃ yathā svapne manasā dehavān iva | karmagarbhair guṇair dehī garbhe tad upalabhyate ||
Bhishma dijo: «Así como, en un sueño, este ser parece asumir otro cuerpo por medio de la mente sola y se recrea en él, del mismo modo el ser encarnado es aprehendido en el vientre: formado y llevado adelante por las cualidades (guṇas) cargadas con las semillas de las acciones pasadas (karma).»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that embodiment is not random: the jīva’s experience of taking form is driven by the mind and shaped by guṇas that carry karmic impressions. Dream is used as an analogy to show how ‘a body’ can be assumed experientially through subtle causes, and likewise how birth in the womb manifests from karmic and guṇic conditions.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and right understanding, Bhishma explains to Yudhiṣṭhira the mechanism of embodied existence. He illustrates, through the dream example, how the self appears to take on bodies and how, in waking life, the next embodiment becomes perceptible in the womb due to karma-laden guṇas.