Shloka 9
मनुरुवाच — इन्द्रिय-मनः-ज्ञान-क्रमः
Manu on the hierarchy of senses, mind, and knowledge
यथा संश्रूयते राजन् कारणं चात्र वक्ष्यते
yathā saṁśrūyate rājan kāraṇaṁ cātra vakṣyate | durbaddhir akṛtaprajñaś cale manasi tiṣṭhati || calām eva gatiṁ yāti nirayaṁ vā niyacchati ||
毗湿摩说道：“大王啊，传闻如此——我也将在此说明其因。见解乖谬、缺乏真实辨慧之人，常住于躁动不安、摇摆不定之心。此人纵然行持持咒，也只能得到不稳而易坏的命运之途；否则便被驱迫堕入地狱。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Spiritual practice (such as japa) bears fruit only when guided by discernment and steadiness of mind; if the intellect is corrupted and the mind remains restless, the result is an unstable destiny or even a fall into suffering states.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīṣma continues a moral-psychological teaching: he explains, with reasons, how flawed understanding and mental fickleness undermine religious practice and lead to adverse outcomes.