Shloka 12
Adhyāya 179 — Bharadvāja’s Reductionist Inquiry into Jīva and Pañcabhūta Dissolution
इषुकारो नर: कश्चिदिषावासक्तमानस: । समीपेनापि गच्छन्तं राजानं नावबुद्धवान्
iṣukāro naraḥ kaścid iṣāv āsaktamānasaḥ | samīpenāpi gacchantaṃ rājānaṃ nāvabuddhavān |
भीष्म उवाच—इषुकारो नरः कश्चिद् इष्वासक्तमानसः। समीपेनापि गच्छन्तं राजानं नावबुद्धवान्॥ तत्रैकाग्रताया बलं दृष्टं; तस्मात् स दृष्टान्तो गुरुरिव॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches ekāgratā—single-pointed concentration. A mind fully absorbed in a chosen duty or practice becomes steady and undistracted, which is presented as a practical model for self-mastery and ethical discipline.
Bhishma narrates an example: an arrow-maker is so intent on crafting arrows that he fails to notice the king passing close by. This striking inattentiveness to external spectacle is used to highlight the depth of his focus.