Shloka 9

Śarīrin, Buddhi, and the Limits of Sense-Perception (इन्द्रियबुद्धिशरीरिविचारः)

Devanagari script

विसंचारि निरालम्बं पठ्चद्वारं चलाचलम्‌ । पूर्व ध्यानपथे धीर: समादध्यान्मनो5न्तरा

Transliteration

visaṃcāri nirālambaṃ pañcadvāraṃ calācalam | pūrvaṃ dhyānapathe dhīraḥ samādhadyān mano 'ntarā ||

Translation

ਮਨ ਅਨੇਕਾਂ ਵਿਸ਼ਿਆਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਭਟਕਦਾ ਰਹਿੰਦਾ ਹੈ; ਇਸ ਦਾ ਕੋਈ ਥਿਰ ਆਸਰਾ ਨਹੀਂ। ਪੰਜ ਇੰਦ੍ਰੀਆਂ ਉਸ ਦੇ ਬਾਹਰ ਨਿਕਲਣ ਦੇ ਦਰਵਾਜ਼ੇ ਹਨ ਅਤੇ ਉਹ ਬਹੁਤ ਚੰਚਲ ਹੈ। ਇਸ ਲਈ ਧੀਰ ਯੋਗੀ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਇਸ ਮਨ ਨੂੰ ਅੰਦਰ—ਹਿਰਦੇ ਦੇ ਧਿਆਨ-ਮਾਰਗ ਵਿੱਚ—ਟਿਕਾ ਕੇ ਇਕਾਗ੍ਰ ਕਰੇ।

Word by Word

• {'visaṃcāri': 'wandering about, roaming (especially among objects)', 'nirālambam': 'without support

• lacking a stable resting-place', 'pañcadvāram': 'having five gates (the five senses as outlets)', 'calācalam': 'very unsteady, wavering, fickle', 'pūrvam': 'first, at the outset', 'dhyānapatha': 'the path/track of meditation

• inner contemplative course', 'dhīraḥ': 'steadfast, self-possessed, wise person', 'samādhadyāt': 'should fix/compose/collect (the mind)

• should concentrate', 'manaḥ': 'mind', 'antarā': 'within, inwardly (in the interior)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• mind (manas)
• five senses (pañcadvāra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The mind is naturally unstable and escapes outward through the five senses; therefore the yogin must deliberately gather it inward and fix it on the inner path of meditation, establishing one-pointed concentration.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs on spiritual discipline and inner governance after the war; here he describes the mind’s restless nature and prescribes the first practical step of yoga—turning the mind inward and concentrating it in meditation.