Shloka 17
Adhyāya 214: Tapas Redefined—Perpetual Discipline, Hospitality, and the Ethics of Eating (तपः-निरूपणम्, विघसाशी-अतिथिप्रिय-धर्मः)
दश विद्याद् धमन्यो<त्र पज्चेन्द्रियगुणावहा: । याभि: सूक्ष्मा: प्रतायन्ते धमन्यो5न्या: सहस्रश:
daśa vidyād dhamanyo 'tra pañcendriyaguṇāvahāḥ | yābhiḥ sūkṣmāḥ pratāyante dhamanyo 'nyāḥ sahasraśaḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：于此身中，当知有十条主要“达摩尼”(dhamanī，脉道)，承载五根之境——声等诸尘——使感官之觉受得以成立。与此相伴，尚有千千万万细微脉道遍布全身。此教诲将人体安置为秩序井然的功能之域；对身体的有纪律之理解，能扶持伦理的自我治理与心之安住。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a structured view of the body: ten principal channels convey the sensory qualities, while innumerable subtle channels pervade the body. Such knowledge supports self-mastery—understanding how perception arises helps one regulate desire, restraint, and ethical conduct.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and allied disciplines. Here he shifts into an explanatory, quasi-physiological account of the body’s internal channels and their role in sensory experience, as part of a broader teaching on self-knowledge and control.