Shloka 60

कर्मयोग–ज्ञानयज्ञ–अवतारोपदेश

Karma-Yoga, Jñāna-Yajña, and Avatāra Instruction

Devanagari script

सम्बन्ध-- आसक्तिका नाश और इन्द्रियसंयम नहीं होनेसे क्या हानि है? इसपर कहते हैं-- यततो हापि कौन्तेय पुरुषस्य विपश्चित: । इन्द्रियाणि प्रमाथीनि हरन्ति प्रसभं मन:

Transliteration

yatato hy api kaunteya puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ | indriyāṇi pramāthīni haranti prasabhaṁ manaḥ ||

Translation

हे कुन्तीपुत्र! यत्न करते हुए बुद्धिमान पुरुष का भी मन ये प्रमथनस्वभाव वाली इन्द्रियाँ बलपूर्वक हर लेती हैं।

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'yatataḥ', 'definition': 'of one who strives

• exerting oneself'}, {'term': 'hi api', 'definition': 'indeed, even'}, {'term': 'kaunteya', 'definition': 'O son of Kuntī (address to Arjuna)'}, {'term': 'puruṣasya', 'definition': 'of a person

• of a man'}, {'term': 'vipaścitaḥ', 'definition': 'of the wise/discerning

• intelligent'}, {'term': 'indriyāṇi', 'definition': 'the senses

• sense-faculties'}, {'term': 'pramāthīni', 'definition': 'violent, agitating, overpowering

• that disturb and carry away'}, {'term': 'haranti', 'definition': 'carry off

• take away'}, {'term': 'prasabham', 'definition': 'forcibly

• against one’s will'}, {'term': 'manaḥ', 'definition': 'mind

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna (Kaunteya)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even a wise person’s mind can be forcibly dragged away by the senses; therefore ethical steadiness requires deliberate restraint and the weakening of attachment, not merely intellectual understanding.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Bhīṣma Parva dialogue setting, Arjuna voices a concern about the danger of uncontrolled senses: despite sincere effort and wisdom, sensory impulses can overpower the mind, threatening right resolve and dharmic action.