Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 11
अध्याय १६ — शङ्कर-उमा-वरदानम् तथा तण्डि-स्तुतिः (Śaṅkara–Umā Boon-Granting and Taṇḍi’s Hymn)
यः प्राणवन्तमात्मानं ज्योतिर्जीवस्थितं मन: । त॑ देवं दर्शनाकाड्क्षी बहून् वर्षमणानूषि:
yaḥ prāṇavantaṃ ātmānaṃ jyotir-jīva-sthitaṃ manaḥ | taṃ devaṃ darśanākāṅkṣī bahūn varṣam anūṣiḥ ||
वायु ने कहा—“जो अपने भीतर प्राणवान आत्मा को—जीवित ज्योति में स्थित मन को—पहचान लेता है, वह उस देवतत्त्व के दर्शन की आकांक्षा करता है; और उसी आकांक्षा के सहारे वह बहुत वर्षों तक स्थित रहता है।”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes inner recognition: seeing the Self as enlivened by prāṇa and as luminous within. From that insight arises a sustained yearning for direct vision (darśana) of the divine, portraying spiritual aspiration as a long-term, life-supporting discipline.
Vāyudeva is speaking, describing the disposition of a seeker: one who understands the inner Self and mind as grounded in living light naturally desires to behold the divine, and persists for a long time in that quest.