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 ||
毗舍波耶那说：“大王啊，那为世所称的‘心’，驱策五根者，正是圣哈利，并非他人。唯有祂——全智者——统摄世间秩序，使众生之创造得以显现。”
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.