Shloka 11
Vāc–Manas Saṃvāda: Prāṇa-Apāna and the Primacy Debate (वाक्–मनस् संवादः)
केन विज्ञानयोगेन मतिक्षित्तं समास्थिता । समुन्नीता नाध्यगच्छत् को वै तां प्रतिबाधते,किस विज्ञानके प्रभावसे मति चित्तके आश्रित होती है? वह ऊँचे उठायी जानेपर विषयोंकी ओर क्यों नहीं जाती? कौन उसके मार्गमें बाधा डालता है?
kena vijñānayogena mati-kṣittaṃ samāsthitā | samunnītā nādhyagacchat ko vai tāṃ pratibādhate ||
Brāhmaṇa itu berkata: “Dengan penyatuan apakah bersama pengetahuan sejati (vijñāna-yoga) sehingga budi (mati), yang bersandar pada medan kesedaran (citta), menjadi teguh? Dan apabila ia diangkat ke atas, mengapa ia tidak meluru ke arah objek-objek indera? Siapakah sebenarnya yang menghalang jalannya dan mengekangnya?”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a philosophical inquiry into how discriminative knowledge joined with yogic discipline stabilizes the mind, preventing it from flowing outward to sense-objects; it asks what inner factor restrains or obstructs that outward movement—pointing toward themes of viveka (discernment), vairāgya (dispassion), and mastery over the senses.
In the Ashvamedhika Parva’s reflective discourse, a brāhmaṇa speaker poses probing questions about the mechanics of inner realization: how the mind becomes grounded through vijñāna-yoga, why it remains steady even when elevated, and what force acts as a ‘gatekeeper’ against distraction by worldly objects.