Shloka 20
Śarīrin, Buddhi, and the Limits of Sense-Perception (इन्द्रियबुद्धिशरीरिविचारः)
स्वयमेव मनश्लैवं पञचवर्ग च भारत । पूर्व ध्यानपथे स्थाप्य नित्ययोगेन शाम्यति
svayam eva manaḥ ślaivaṃ pañcavargaṃ ca bhārata | pūrvaṃ dhyānapathe sthāpya nityayogena śāmyati bharatanandana ||
Bhīṣma dit : Ô Bharata, ô joie des Bharata—lorsqu’un homme voué à la méditation, par son propre effort, place d’abord l’esprit et le groupe quintuple des sens sur la voie de la contemplation, il obtient l’apaisement intérieur grâce à la discipline ferme du yoga pratiqué chaque jour. L’enseignement met l’accent sur la maîtrise de soi : la paix ne se conquiert pas au dehors, mais en éduquant sans cesse l’attention et les sens vers la contemplation.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Peace (śānti) arises from self-directed discipline: establish the mind and the five senses in meditation first, then maintain steady daily yoga (nityayoga). The verse frames tranquility as the fruit of repeated practice and restraint rather than external circumstances.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war. Here he turns to yogic ethics—how a contemplative person trains mind and senses on the meditation path to attain calm—offering practical guidance for inner governance amid postwar moral reflection.