Shloka 16
दमप्रशंसा — Praise of Self-Restraint
Dama
शब्दरागाच्छोत्रमस्य जायते भावितात्मन: । रूपरागात् तथा चक्षुप्राणं गन्धचिकीर्षया
śabdarāgāc chotram asya jāyate bhāvitātmanaḥ | rūparāgāt tathā cakṣuḥ prāṇaṃ gandha-cikīrṣayā ||
Sinabi ni Bhishma: Sa taong ang kalooban ay nahubog ng mga dating bakas, ang pagkapit sa tunog ang nagbubunga ng pandinig. Ang pagkapit sa anyo ay gayon ding nagbubunga ng paningin; at ang udyok na malasap ang samyo ang nagbubunga ng pang-amoy. Kaya’t ang mga pandama ay nahahayag ayon sa hilig at pagnanasa ng isip.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the senses are not merely physical givens; they manifest and operate in line with the mind’s attachments—craving for sound, form, and fragrance conditions the arising and strengthening of hearing, sight, and smell. Ethically, it points to desire (rāga) as a root that shapes perception and bondage.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction, Bhishma is explaining to the listener a causal account of how sensory faculties arise in embodied beings, linking each sense to a corresponding attachment or desire, as part of a broader teaching on mind, conduct, and liberation-oriented understanding.