Shloka 59
Āścarya-kathana: Brāhmaṇa–Nāga Dialogue on Sūrya (Vivasvat) and the ‘Second Sun’ Phenomenon
मनश्ष प्रथितं राजन पज्चेन्द्रियसमीरणम । एष लोकविधिर्धीमानेष लोकविसर्गकृत्
manaś ca prathitaṃ rājan pañcendriya-samīraṇam | eṣa loka-vidhir dhīmān eṣa loka-visarga-kṛt ||
Vaiśampāyana nói: “Tâu Đại vương, cái Tâm vốn nổi danh—kẻ thúc đẩy năm giác quan—chẳng phải ai khác, chính là Śrī Hari. Chỉ một mình Ngài, Đấng toàn trí, gìn giữ trật tự của thế gian và làm phát sinh sự tạo thành muôn loài.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies the Mind—the force that activates the five senses—as a manifestation of Śrī Hari, affirming that the same divine intelligence both sustains cosmic order (loka-vidhi) and generates creation (loka-visarga). Ethically, it encourages seeing agency and governance behind mental and sensory activity as rooted in a higher, regulating principle rather than mere impulse.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and higher knowledge, Vaiśampāyana continues teaching the king by describing the divine as immanent in inner faculties. He emphasizes that what appears as psychological function (mind directing senses) is, at a deeper level, the Lord’s power operating within the world.