Shloka 34
अव्यक्त–प्रकृति–इन्द्रियविचारः
The Unmanifest, Prakṛtis, and the Sense-Complex
यथा समुद्रमभित: संश्रिता: सरितो5परा: । तथाद्या प्रकृतियोगाद्भिसंश्रियते सदा
yathā samudram abhitaḥ saṁśritāḥ sarito 'parāḥ | tathādyā prakṛti-yogād bhi-saṁśriyate sadā ||
Sebagaimana banyak sungai dari segala arah mengalir dan menyatu ke samudra, demikian pula batin—yang ditundukkan melalui yoga—beristirahat untuk selamanya dalam Prakṛti, Sang Akar Purba, lenyaplah arusnya yang terpisah.
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that through yoga (disciplined inner practice), the mind’s restless movements can be mastered and made to dissolve into its source—here described as the primordial prakṛti—just as rivers lose their separate identity when they enter the ocean.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation-oriented dharma, the sage Parāśara is explaining contemplative doctrine using a natural simile: many rivers converging into the sea illustrates the yogin’s mind converging into the fundamental ground of existence.