Shloka 26

Vānaprastha-vṛtti and the Transition toward the Fourth Āśrama (वानप्रस्थवृत्तिः चतुर्थाश्रमोपक्रमश्च)

Devanagari script

षण्णामात्मनि बुद्धौ च जितायां प्रभवत्यथ । निर्दोषप्रतिभा होनं॑ कृत्स्ना समभिवर्तते,पञ्चभूत और अहंकार--इन छ: तत्त्वोंका आत्मा है बुद्धि। उसको जीत लेनेपर सम्पूर्ण ऐश्वर्योंकी प्राप्ति हो जाती है तथा उस योगीको निर्दोष प्रतिभा (विशुद्ध तत्त्वज्ञान) पूर्ण रूपसे प्राप्त हो जाती है

Transliteration

ṣaṇṇām ātmani buddhau ca jitāyāṃ prabhavaty atha | nirdoṣa-pratibhā hīnaṃ kṛtsnā samabhivartate ||

Translation

षण्णामात्मनि बुद्धौ च जितायां प्रभवत्यथ । निर्दोषप्रतिभा ह्येनं कृत्स्ना समभिवर्तते ॥

Word by Word

षण्णाम्of six

आत्मनिin the self

बुद्धौin the intellect

चand

जितायाम्when (it) is conquered

प्रभवतिarises / comes to be / becomes possible

अथthen

निर्दोषप्रतिभाfaultless insight

होनाto be (Hindi; not part of the Sanskrit verse)

कृत्स्नाentire / complete

समभिवर्ततेfully comes about / accrues / is attained

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

buddhi

ātman

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Mastery over buddhi (the discriminative intellect) rooted in the Self leads to two results: (1) the arising of complete ‘aiśvarya’ (spiritual excellences/attainments), and (2) the manifestation of nirdoṣa-pratibhā—faultless, purified insight that knows reality without distortion.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Vyāsa continues a didactic exposition on inner discipline: he states that when the yogin conquers the intellect associated with the fundamental principles, higher attainments and pure, error-free understanding naturally unfold.