Shloka 164

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

यं विनिद्रा जितश्वासा: सत्त्वस्था: संयतेन्द्रिया: । ज्योतिः पश्यन्ति युञ्जानास्तस्मै योगात्मने नम:

Transliteration

yaṁ vinidrā jitaśvāsāḥ sattvasthāḥ saṁyatendriyāḥ | jyotiḥ paśyanti yuñjānās tasmai yogātmane namaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dit : Salut à l’Être suprême, le Soi même du Yoga—que les yogins disciplinés contemplent comme une Lumière intérieure éclatante lorsqu’ils méditent : ceux que le sommeil ne terrasse pas, qui ont maîtrisé le prāṇa (souffle vital), qui demeurent établis dans la sattva et qui ont contenu leurs sens.

Word by Word

• {'yaṁ': 'whom (relative pronoun

• the one who is perceived)', 'vinidrāḥ': 'free from sleep / not overpowered by sleep

• wakeful, vigilant', 'jita-śvāsāḥ': 'having conquered the breath

• masters of prāṇāyāma and vital control', 'sattva-sthāḥ': 'established in sattva (clarity, purity, balance)', 'saṁyata-indriyāḥ': 'with restrained senses

• self-controlled', 'jyotiḥ': 'light

• inner illumination', 'paśyanti': 'they see

• they directly perceive', 'yuñjānāḥ': 'engaging in yoga

• practicing concentration/meditation', 'tasmai': 'to him

• unto that (divine principle)', 'yoga-ātmane': 'to the Yoga-Self

• to the Lord whose essence is yoga / the inner Self realized by yoga', 'namaḥ': 'salutation

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• yogins (yogī)
• jyotis (inner light)
• yogātman (the Yoga-Self / Supreme Lord)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that through vigilance (not succumbing to sleep), mastery of breath, restraint of the senses, and establishment in sattva, a yogin attains direct perception of the inner divine Light; the proper response to that realized reality is reverent salutation and devotion.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and higher spiritual disciplines. Here he offers a devotional praise (namas) to the Supreme principle realized in yoga, describing the qualities of practitioners who perceive that radiant truth in meditation.