Shloka 23

Saṃhāra-krama (The Sequence of Cosmic Dissolution) — Yājñavalkya’s Discourse

Devanagari script

तदेव च महास्रोतो विष्टम्भयति वारण: । तद्धद्‌ योगबलं लब्ध्वा व्यूहते विषयान्‌ बहून्‌

Transliteration

tadeva ca mahāsroto viṣṭambhayati vāraṇaḥ | taddhād yogabalaṃ labdhvā vyūhate viṣayān bahūn |

Translation

Но как слон способен преградить даже могучий поток и не дать ему нестись дальше, так и йогин, обретя великую силу, рожденную йогой, сдерживает множество предметов чувств и не уносится их течением.

Word by Word

• तत्: that (it)
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• महास्रोतः: the great stream/current
• महास्रोतः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: महास्रोतस्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• विष्टम्भयति: blocks/stops (causes to be checked)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्तम्भ्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada, Active, 10 (causative)

• वारणः: an elephant
• वारणः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वारण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तत्: that (it)
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• ह: indeed/for emphasis
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ह

• योगबलम्: the power of yoga
• योगबलम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: योगबल
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• लब्ध्वा: having obtained
• Type: Verb
• Root: लभ्
• Form: Absolutive (त्वा), Active

• व्यूहते: arrays/keeps at bay/holds off
• Type: Verb
• Root: व्यूह्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Atmanepada, Middle

• विषयान्: sense-objects
• विषयान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: विषय
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• बहून्: many
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहु
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• vāraṇa (elephant)
• mahāsrotaḥ (great stream/current)
• yogin (practitioner of yoga)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True mastery is not merely avoiding objects but gaining yogic strength that can check the powerful ‘current’ of sense-impulses; the disciplined mind does not flow outward into pleasures.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma continues his instruction on dharma and inner discipline, using a vivid simile: as an elephant can obstruct a strong river-current, so a yogin, empowered by yoga, restrains numerous sense-objects and their pull.