Shloka 25

Devanagari script

इन्द्रियाणां प्रसृष्टानां हयानामिव वर्त्मसु । धृतिं कुर्वीत सारथ्ये धृत्या तानि जयेद्‌ ध्रुवम्‌,सड़कपर दौड़नेवाले घोड़ोंकी तरह विषयोंमें विचरनेवाली इन इन्द्रियोंको वशमें करनेके लिये धैर्यपूर्वक प्रयत्न करे। धैर्यपूर्वक उद्योग करनेवालेको उनपर अवश्य विजय प्राप्त होती है

Transliteration

indriyāṇāṃ prasṛṣṭānāṃ hayānām iva vartmasu | dhṛtiṃ kurvīta sārathye dhṛtyā tāni jayed dhruvam ||

Translation

When the senses, once let loose, roam among their objects like horses racing along the road, one should take up steadfast self-control as a charioteer takes up the reins. By sustained firmness and patient effort, one surely conquers those senses.

Word by Word

• {'indriyāṇām': 'of the senses (organs of perception and action)', 'prasṛṣṭānām': 'released, let loose, unrestrained', 'hayānām': 'of horses', 'iva': 'like, as', 'vartmasu': 'on paths/roads

• in courses of movement', 'dhṛtim': 'steadfastness, firmness, self-control, fortitude', 'kurvīta': 'should do/undertake

• should cultivate', 'sārathye': 'in charioteering

• in the role of a driver (guiding/controlling)', 'dhṛtyā': 'by steadfastness

• through firmness', 'tāni': 'those (senses)', 'jayet': 'should conquer, should overcome', 'dhruvam': 'certainly, surely, unfailingly'}

Speaker

व्याध उवाच

Characters & Entities

• इन्द्रिय (senses)
• हय (horses)
• सारथि (charioteer)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches indriya-nigraha (mastery of the senses): when senses run toward objects, one must cultivate dhṛti—steady firmness—like a charioteer controlling horses; persistent self-control leads surely to victory over sensory impulses.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Dharma-vyādha episode of Vana Parva, the hunter (vyādha) instructs a seeker on practical dharma. Here he uses the image of horses and a charioteer to explain how disciplined effort and steadiness can restrain the senses and support righteous living.