Shanti Parva Adhyaya 214 Shloka 17 - Mahabharata | Lao | Vedapath

Vyasa

Shloka 17

Adhyāya 214: Tapas Redefined—Perpetual Discipline, Hospitality, and the Ethics of Eating (तपः-निरूपणम्, विघसाशी-अतिथिप्रिय-धर्मः)

Devanagari script

दश विद्याद्‌ धमन्यो<त्र पज्चेन्द्रियगुणावहा: । याभि: सूक्ष्मा: प्रतायन्ते धमन्यो5न्या: सहस्रश:

Transliteration

daśa vidyād dhamanyo 'tra pañcendriyaguṇāvahāḥ | yābhiḥ sūkṣmāḥ pratāyante dhamanyo 'nyāḥ sahasraśaḥ ||

Translation

ພີດສະມະກ່າວວ່າ: ໃນຮ່າງກາຍນີ້ ຄວນຮູ້ວ່າມີຊ່ອງທາງຫຼັກ (dhamanī) 10 ສາຍ ທີ່ຂົນສົ່ງຄຸນລັກສະນະຂອງອິນທຣີ 5—ສຽງ ແລະ ອື່ນໆ—ເຮັດໃຫ້ເກີດກຳລັງໃນການຮັບຮູ້ທາງປະສາດສຳຜັດ. ພ້ອມກັນນັ້ນ ຍັງມີຊ່ອງທາງລະອຽດອີກນັບພັນ ແຜ່ກະຈາຍໄປທົ່ວຮ່າງກາຍ. ຄຳສອນນີ້ວາງຮ່າງກາຍມະນຸດເປັນສະໜາມແຫ່ງໜ້າທີ່ອັນມີລະບຽບ; ແລະການເຂົ້າໃຈຮ່າງກາຍຢ່າງມີວິໄນ ຊ່ວຍຄ້ຳຈຸນການຄວບຄຸມຕົນທາງຈິດທຳ ແລະ ຄວາມໝັ້ນຄົງຂອງໃຈ.

Word by Word

daśaten

vidyātone should know

dhamanyaḥarteries/tubes (nāḍīs)

atrahere, in this (body/context)

pañcaof five

indriyasense-organs

guṇaqualities (e.g., sound etc.)

āvahāḥcarrying, conveying

yābhiḥby which

sūkṣmāḥsubtle, fine

pratāyantespread out, extend

dhamanyaḥarteries/tubes (nāḍīs)

anyāḥother

sahasraśaḥby thousands, in thousands

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

dhamanīs (bodily channels)

pañcendriyas (five senses)

guṇas of the senses (śabda etc.)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches a structured view of the body: ten principal channels convey the sensory qualities, while innumerable subtle channels pervade the body. Such knowledge supports self-mastery—understanding how perception arises helps one regulate desire, restraint, and ethical conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and allied disciplines. Here he shifts into an explanatory, quasi-physiological account of the body’s internal channels and their role in sensory experience, as part of a broader teaching on self-knowledge and control.