Shloka 15
Nārāyaṇasya Guhya-nāmāni Niruktāni (Etymologies of Nārāyaṇa’s Secret Epithets) / नारायणस्य गुह्यनामानि निरुक्तानि
इन्द्रियैरिन्द्रियार्थान् यश्चरत्यात्मवशैरिह । असज्जमान: शान्तात्मा निर्विकार: समाहित:
indriyair indriyārthān yaś caraty ātmavaśair iha | asajjamānaḥ śāntātmā nirvikāraḥ samāhitaḥ ||
Nārada dit : Celui qui, les sens placés sous la souveraineté du Soi, fait l’expérience en ce monde des objets des sens sans s’y attacher—dont l’être intérieur est paisible, inébranlable et fermement recueilli—, bien qu’il demeure au milieu du corps et des sens qui paraissent être le moi, reste distinct d’eux et ne s’y identifie pas. Un tel homme est libéré et atteint très vite le Bien suprême.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
True freedom is not the absence of sensory experience but the absence of attachment: when the senses are governed by the Self, one can engage with sense-objects without clinging. Such steadiness—calm (śāntātmā), unmodified (nirvikāra), and concentrated (samāhita)—marks liberation and leads swiftly to the highest good.
Within the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Nārada is speaking as a teacher, defining the liberated person. He describes how a wise individual lives amid body and senses yet remains inwardly separate from identification with them, thereby attaining mokṣa-oriented welfare.