Shloka 22
Saṃhāra-krama (The Sequence of Cosmic Dissolution) — Yājñavalkya’s Discourse
दुर्बलश्ष यथा राजन् स्रोतसा हियते नर: । बलहीनस्तथा योगो विषयैह्ियतेडवश:,राजन! जैसे दुर्बल मनुष्य पानीके वेगसे बह जाता है, उसी तरह दुर्बल योगी विवश होकर विषयोंकी ओर खिंच जाता है
durbalaś ca yathā rājan srotasā hriyate naraḥ | balahīnas tathā yogo viṣayair hriyate 'vaśaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Ô roi, de même qu’un homme faible est emporté par la force du courant, de même une pratique du yoga dépourvue de vigueur est, malgré elle, entraînée vers les objets des sens.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Yoga or spiritual discipline must be supported by inner strength—steadfastness, restraint, and resolve. Without that strength, one is involuntarily pulled toward sense-pleasures, just as a weak person is swept away by a river’s current.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction to the king, Bhishma uses a vivid simile—being carried by a current—to warn that a practitioner who is not firm in discipline will be drawn back into worldly objects and distractions.