Shloka 24
जनक–पराशर संवादः — वर्ण-गोत्र-धर्मविचारः
Janaka–Parāśara: Varṇa, Gotra, and Dharma Inquiry
सरितां सागरो भर्ता यथा वेलामिवोर्मिवान् | इति भावगता बुद्धिर्भावे मनसि वर्तते
Bhīṣma uvāca | saritāṁ sāgaro bhartā yathā velām ivōrmivān | iti bhāvagatā buddhir bhāve manasi vartate ||
Dijo Bhīṣma: «Así como el océano, señor de los ríos, aunque colmado de olas impetuosas, no rebasa su ribera, del mismo modo el intelecto—teñido por estados como el sāttvika y los demás—no transgrede los límites de los tres guṇas. Sigue girando dentro de la mente hecha de tales disposiciones.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when the intellect is stirred by various inner moods (sāttvika, rājasa, tāmasa), it still functions within the limits set by the three guṇas; true discipline is to recognize these bounds and not be carried beyond them by agitation—like the ocean’s waves that do not cross the shore.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction, Bhīṣma continues his discourse on inner governance and ethical steadiness, using a natural image (the ocean and its boundary) to explain how mind and intellect operate within the framework of the guṇas.