Shloka 36
Saṃhāra-krama (The Sequence of Cosmic Dissolution) — Yājñavalkya’s Discourse
सारथिश्न यथा युकत्वा सदश्चान् सुसमाहितः । देशमिष्टं नयत्याशु धन्विनं पुरुषर्षभ
sārathiś ca yathā yuktvā sad-aśvān susamāhitaḥ | deśam iṣṭaṃ nayaty āśu dhanvinaṃ puruṣarṣabha ||
Bhishma dit : «Ô le meilleur des hommes ! De même qu’un cocher vigilant, après avoir attelé comme il faut de bons chevaux et demeuré tout entier attentif, conduit promptement le guerrier archer au lieu désiré, ainsi le yogin, l’esprit rassemblé en une concentration à un seul point dans les dhāraṇā, atteint vite l’état suprême, tel une flèche lâchée vers sa cible.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Focused inner discipline leads swiftly to the highest goal: as a skilled charioteer reaches a destination by properly harnessing and controlling good horses, a yogin reaches the supreme state by properly gathering and directing the mind through dhāraṇā (concentration).
In Bhishma’s instruction during the Shanti Parva, he uses a martial image familiar to kings and warriors—charioteer, horses, archer, and target—to explain how attentive control and correct preparation in yoga carry a practitioner quickly to the intended spiritual end.