Shloka 14

नारद–शुक संवादः (Nārada–Śuka Dialogue): Tyāga, Saṃyama, and Vyakta–Avyakta Viveka

Devanagari script

प्रतिभामपवर्ग च प्रतिसंहृत्य मैथिल । इन्द्रियग्राममखिलं मनस्यभिनिवेश्य ह

Transliteration

pratibhām apavargaṁ ca pratisaṁhṛtya maithila | indriyagrāmam akhilaṁ manasy abhiniveśya ha ||

Translation

โอ มৈถิละ! เมื่อรวบคืนแม้กระทั่งปฏิภา (ปัญญาหยั่งรู้) และอปวรรคะ (แรงมุ่งสู่วิมุตติ) แล้ว รวมหมู่อินทรีย์ทั้งสิ้นให้เป็นหนึ่ง และตั้งไว้ภายในจิต.

Word by Word

प्रतिभाम्intelligence, insight

अपवर्गम्liberation, final release

चand

प्रतिसंहृत्यhaving withdrawn, having retracted

मैथिलO Maithila (descendant of Mithilā)

इन्द्रियग्रामम्the collection of senses

अखिलम्entire, whole

मनसिin the mind

अभिनिवेश्यhaving fixed/placed (it), having settled

हindeed, surely (emphatic particle)

Speaker

याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yājñavalkya

Maithila (Janaka, king of Mithilā)

indriyagrāma (the senses)

manas (mind)

apavarga (liberation)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The core teaching is inward mastery: one should withdraw the senses from external objects and concentrate them in the mind. The verse also suggests a subtler discipline—setting aside even refined mental powers (pratibhā) and the restless drive toward attainment (apavarga) so the mind rests in collected steadiness.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yājñavalkya is instructing Maithila (Janaka) on inner practice. He describes the yogic act of retracting faculties and gathering the senses, then fixing them in the mind—an instruction situated within the Shānti Parva’s broader teaching on peace, self-governance, and liberation.