Shloka 34

Saṃhāra-krama (The Sequence of Cosmic Dissolution) — Yājñavalkya’s Discourse

Devanagari script

यथा च नावं कौन्तेय कर्णधार: समाहित: । महार्णवगतां शीघ्र॑ नयेत्‌ पार्थिवसत्तम

Transliteration

yathā ca nāvaṁ kaunteya karṇadhāraḥ samāhitaḥ | mahārṇavagatāṁ śīghraṁ nayet pārthivasattama ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Hỡi con của Kuntī, bậc tối thượng trong hàng quân vương! Như người lái thuyền vững vàng, chăm chú, có thể mau chóng đưa con thuyền đã vào đại dương mênh mông đến bến đích, cũng vậy, người biết chân lý theo Yoga—lấy samādhi mà an trụ tâm nơi Tối Thượng Ngã—sau khi xả bỏ thân này, sẽ đạt đến cảnh giới tối cao khó thể tới.”

Word by Word

• यथा: just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• नावम्: boat
• नावम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: नौ
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• कौन्तेय: O son of Kuntī
• Type: Noun
• Root: कौन्तेय
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• कर्णधारः: helmsman (steersman)
• कर्णधारः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्णधार
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• समाहितः: collected, attentive
• Type: Adjective
• Root: समाहित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• महार्णवगताम्: gone into the great ocean
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महार्णवगत
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• शीघ्रम्: quickly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: शीघ्र

• नयेत्: should lead / would bring
• Type: Verb
• Root: नी
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• पार्थिवसत्तम: O best of kings
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थिवसत्तम
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Kaunteya (Yudhiṣṭhira)
• boat (nāva)
• helmsman (karṇadhāra)
• great ocean (mahārṇava)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Steady inner discipline is like skilled navigation: one who is composed and knows reality through yoga can fix the mind in the Supreme via samādhi and thereby reach the highest goal after leaving the body.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on higher dharma and spiritual means; here he uses the image of a helmsman guiding a boat across the ocean to illustrate how concentrated yogic knowledge guides the soul toward the supreme state.