Shloka 14

Saṃhāra-krama (The Sequence of Cosmic Dissolution) — Yājñavalkya’s Discourse

Devanagari script

लोभजानि तथा राजन्‌ बन्धनानि बलान्विता: । छित्त्वा योगा: परं मार्ग गच्छन्ति विमलं शिवम्‌

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | lobhajāni tathā rājan bandhanāni balānvitāḥ | chittvā yogāḥ paraṃ mārgaṃ gacchanti vimalaṃ śivam ||

Translation

Bhishma berkata: “Wahai Raja, sebagaimana hewan-hewan yang kuat merobek jaring, terbebas dari segala belenggu, lalu melangkah tanpa rintangan di jalannya, demikian pula para yogin yang dianugerahi daya yoga memutus semua ikatan yang lahir dari loba dan mencapai jalan tertinggi—suci tanpa noda dan penuh keberkahan.”

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'rājan': 'O king (address to the ruler

• here, Yudhiṣṭhira)', 'lobhajāni': 'born of greed

• arising from covetousness', 'bandhanāni': 'bonds, fetters

• binding attachments/constraints', 'balānvitāḥ': 'endowed with strength

• possessing power', 'chittvā': 'having cut, having severed', 'yogāḥ': 'yogins

• practitioners established in yoga (also: those possessing yoga)', 'paraṃ mārgaṃ': 'the supreme path

• highest course/way', 'gacchanti': 'they go

• they attain/proceed', 'vimalaṃ': 'stainless, pure, untainted', 'śivam': 'auspicious, beneficent

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• King (Yudhiṣṭhira)
• net (jāla, implied by the simile)
• animals/deer (mṛga, implied by the simile)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Greed (lobha) creates binding attachments that obstruct the highest good; through yogic strength—discipline, inner steadiness, and insight—one can sever these bonds and move toward the pure, auspicious supreme path.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhishma uses a vivid simile: as a powerful animal breaks a net and walks freely, so a yogin breaks greed-born fetters and proceeds unobstructed toward the highest, purified goal.