Shloka 41
Arjuna’s Lament, the End of the Yadus, and the Pāṇḍavas’ Departure
वाचं जुहाव मनसि तत्प्राण इतरे च तम् । मृत्यावपानं सोत्सर्गं तं पञ्चत्वे ह्यजोहवीत् ॥ ४१ ॥
vācaṁ juhāva manasi tat prāṇa itare ca tam mṛtyāv apānaṁ sotsargaṁ taṁ pañcatve hy ajohavīt
ಅವನು ವಾಣಿಯನ್ನು ಮನಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ, ಮನಸ್ಸನ್ನು ಪ್ರಾಣದಲ್ಲಿ, ಪ್ರಾಣವನ್ನು ಅಪಾನದಲ್ಲಿ, ತನ್ನ ಸಮಸ್ತ ಅಸ್ತಿತ್ವವನ್ನು ಪಂಚಭೂತಸ್ವರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಲೀನಗೊಳಿಸಿದನು; ಬಳಿಕ ದೇಹವನ್ನು ಮರಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಅರ್ಪಿಸಿ ಶುದ್ಧಾತ್ಮನಾಗಿ ದೇಹಾಭಿಮಾನದಿಂದ ಮುಕ್ತನಾದನು।
Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, like his brother Arjuna, began to concentrate and gradually became freed from all material bondage. First he concentrated all the actions of the senses and amalgamated them into the mind, or in other words he turned his mind toward the transcendental service of the Lord. He prayed that since all material activities are performed by the mind in terms of actions and reactions of the material senses, and since he was going back to Godhead, the mind would wind up its material activities and be turned towards the transcendental service to the Lord. There was no longer a need for material activities. Actually the activities of the mind cannot be stopped, for they are the reflection of the eternal soul, but the quality of the activities can be changed from matter to the transcendental service of the Lord. The material color of the mind is changed when one washes it clean of the contaminations of life-breathing and thereby frees it from the contamination of repeated births and deaths and situates it in pure spiritual life. All is manifested by the temporary embodiment of the material body, which is a production of the mind at the time of death, and if the mind is purified by practice of transcendental loving service to the Lord and is constantly engaged in the service of the lotus feet of the Lord, there is no more chance of the mind’s producing another material body after death. It will be freed from absorption in material contamination. The pure soul will be able to return home, back to Godhead.
FAQs
This verse describes conscious withdrawal: speech is merged into mind, senses into the life-air, and the vital functions are relinquished—showing deliberate detachment and inner absorption rather than fearful, unconscious death.
After completing his worldly duty and hearing of Kṛṣṇa’s departure, Yudhiṣṭhira renounced the kingdom and prepared for liberation by yogic dissolution—systematically disengaging from bodily functions.
Practice daily restraint and recollection: reduce impulsive speech, redirect attention inward through japa and śravaṇa, and use the senses in Kṛṣṇa’s service so that detachment becomes natural at life’s end.