Shloka 19
Aśoka-śāstra: Nārada’s Instruction on the Cessation of Śoka
Grief
अथास्य नेष्टं मरणं स्थातुमिच्छेदिमां क्रियाम् सर्वगन्धान् रसांश्नैव धारयीत नराधिप
athāsya neṣṭaṁ maraṇaṁ sthātum icched imāṁ kriyām | sarvagandhān rasāṁś caiva dhārayīta narādhipa || nareśvara! yadi yogino mṛtyur abhīṣṭā na bhavet, iha jagati sthātum icchet, tadā iyaṁ kriyā kartavyā | pūrvoktavidhinā pañcabhūtaviṣayikāṁ dhāraṇāṁ kṛtvā pṛthivyādi-tattveṣu vijayaṁ prāpya sarvān gandhān rasān rūpādīn viṣayān ātmavaśe kuryāt ||
Yājñavalkya dit : «Si un yogin ne désire pas la mort et souhaite demeurer établi en ce monde, qu’il entreprenne cette discipline. Ayant pratiqué la concentration décrite plus haut sur les objets des cinq grands éléments et acquis la maîtrise des principes à commencer par la terre, qu’il soumette à son pouvoir tous les objets des sens : l’odeur, la saveur, et de même la forme et le reste.»
याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
A yogin who wishes to continue living should cultivate mastery through dhāraṇā on the five elements and thereby subdue the sense-objects (smell, taste, form, etc.). Longevity is presented as an outcome of disciplined control over the body’s elemental basis and the mind’s sensory outward flow.
Yājñavalkya instructs a king, continuing an earlier exposition of yogic methods. He describes a specific practice: using prior elemental concentrations to conquer the earth-and-other principles and to bring sensory experience under command, as a means for a yogin who does not wish to die to remain in the world.