Shloka 17

मनुरुवाच — इन्द्रिय-मनः-ज्ञान-क्रमः

Manu on the hierarchy of senses, mind, and knowledge

Devanagari script

फिर बुद्धिके द्वारा परब्रह्म परमात्माका ध्यान करे तथा सर्व-हितकारिणी वेदसंहिताका एवं प्रणव और गायत्री मन्त्रका जप करे। फिर समाधिमें स्थित होनेपर उस संहिता एवं गायत्री मन्त्र आदिके जपको भी त्याग दे ।।

Transliteration

dhyānam utpādayaty atra saṁhitā-bala-saṁśrayāt | śuddhātmā tapasā dānto nivṛtta-dveṣa-kāmavān ||

Translation

Bhīṣma giải thích: Nương sức mạnh của việc tụng niệm Veda-saṃhitā, người cầu đạo khơi dậy sự quán chiếu nội tâm. Tâm được thanh tịnh, được rèn bằng tapas, tự chế ngự, và đã rút lui khỏi hận thù cùng dục vọng; người ấy trở nên xứng đáng cho thiền định sâu—rồi về sau, khi sự nhập định đã vững, ngay cả chỗ nương vào những công thức tụng niệm lặp lại cũng được buông bỏ.

Word by Word

• {'dhyānam': 'meditation

• sustained contemplative focus', 'utpādayati': 'produces

• generates', 'atra': 'here

• in this practice/context', 'saṁhitā': 'Vedic collection/recitation

• the Saṁhitā portion of the Veda', 'bala': 'strength

• efficacy', 'saṁśrayāt': 'by resorting to

• taking refuge in', 'śuddhātmā': 'one whose inner self/mind is purified', 'tapasā': 'by austerity

• by disciplined effort/ascetic practice', 'dāntaḥ': 'self-controlled

• restrained (especially of senses)', 'nivṛtta': 'turned back

• ceased', 'dveṣa': 'hatred

• aversion', 'kāma': 'desire

• craving', 'kāmavān': 'possessing desire (here understood as one who has dealt with/withdrawn from desire in practice, i.e., no longer driven by it)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma (speaker)
• Saṁhitā (Vedic recitation/collection)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Meditation is stabilized by disciplined life: purity of mind, austerity, and sense-restraint, along with withdrawing from hatred and desire. Vedic recitation can serve as a support to generate contemplation, but the mature aim is steady absorption that is not dependent on external repetition.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma is teaching a method of inner practice: the seeker uses the strength of sacred recitation to kindle meditation, while cultivating ethical purification and restraint, preparing for deeper yogic absorption.