Shloka 17
Skanda-janma: Śivā/Svāhā, Agni, and the Manifestation of Guha
Mahābhārata 3.214
योगिनामेष मार्गस्तु येन गच्छन्ति तत् परम् | जितक्लमा: समा धीरा मूर्थन्यात्मानमादधु: । एवं सर्वेषु विततौ प्राणापानौ हि देहिषु,जिन्होंने समस्त क्लेशोंको जीत लिया है, जो समदर्शी और धीर हैं, जिन्होंने (सुषुम्णा नाड़ीके द्वारा) अपने प्रागमय आत्माको मस्तक (वर्ती सहस्रारचक्र)-में ले जाकर स्थापित किया है, उन योगियोंके लिये यह (मस्तकसे लेकर पायुतकका सुषुम्णामय) मार्ग है, जिससे वे उस परब्रह्म परमात्माको प्राप्त होते हैं। इस प्रकार समस्त जीवात्माओंके शरीरोंमें ये प्राणवायु और अपानवायु व्याप्त हैं
vyādha uvāca | yoginām eṣa mārgaḥ tu yena gacchanti tat param | jitaklamāḥ samā dhīrā mūrdhany ātmānam ādadhuḥ | evaṁ sarveṣu vitatau prāṇāpānau hi dehiṣu |
The hunter said: “This is the path of yogins—the way by which they go to the Supreme. Those who have conquered fatigue and affliction, who are even-minded and steadfast, place the self at the crown of the head. Thus, in all embodied beings, the vital currents called prāṇa and apāna are indeed spread throughout.”
व्याध उवाच
Educational Q&A
Liberation is approached through yogic discipline marked by endurance (jitaklamāḥ), equanimity (samāḥ), and steadiness (dhīrāḥ). The verse points to an inner ascent—establishing awareness at the crown of the head—as a yogic means of reaching the Supreme, while also noting that prāṇa and apāna pervade all embodied beings.
In the Vana Parva’s instruction scene, the hunter (Vyādha), speaking as a moral and spiritual teacher, explains yogic doctrine to his listener: he describes the yogins’ route to the highest reality and frames it with a general observation about the vital breaths (prāṇa and apāna) operating in all living bodies.