Shloka 36
Saṃhāra-krama (The Sequence of Cosmic Dissolution) — Yājñavalkya’s Discourse
सारथिश्न यथा युकत्वा सदश्चान् सुसमाहितः । देशमिष्टं नयत्याशु धन्विनं पुरुषर्षभ
sārathiś ca yathā yuktvā sad-aśvān susamāhitaḥ | deśam iṣṭaṃ nayaty āśu dhanvinaṃ puruṣarṣabha ||
सारथिर्यथा युक्त्वा सदश्वान् सुसमाहितः । देशमिष्टं नयत्याशु धन्विनं पुरुषर्षभ ॥ तथैव योगी धारणासु एकाग्रचित्तः शर इव लक्ष्यं प्रति, शीघ्रं परं पदं प्राप्नोति ॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Focused inner discipline leads swiftly to the highest goal: as a skilled charioteer reaches a destination by properly harnessing and controlling good horses, a yogin reaches the supreme state by properly gathering and directing the mind through dhāraṇā (concentration).
In Bhishma’s instruction during the Shanti Parva, he uses a martial image familiar to kings and warriors—charioteer, horses, archer, and target—to explain how attentive control and correct preparation in yoga carry a practitioner quickly to the intended spiritual end.