Yoga, Nārāyaṇa as Supreme Principle, and the Emanation of Categories
Sāṅkhya-Yoga Outline
यथा चन्द्रो ह्मावास्यामलिड्त्वान्न दृश्यते | न च नाशो<स्य भवति तथा विद्धि शरीरिणम्
yathā candro ’māvāsyām ālīḍhatvān na dṛśyate | na ca nāśo ’sya bhavati tathā viddhi śarīriṇam ||
قال بهيشما: «كما أنّ القمر في ليلة المحاق لا يُرى، كأنّ نوره قد ابتُلِع، ومع ذلك لا يكون قد فُني—فكذلك افهم الذات المتجسدة. حتى إذا غدت غير مرئية فهي لا تنعدم.»
भीष्म उवाच
Non-appearance is not non-existence: the embodied Self is not annihilated when it is not perceptible, just as the moon is not destroyed when it is invisible on the new-moon night.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction, Bhishma teaches about the nature of the Self using a familiar cosmic example (the moon’s invisibility at amāvāsyā) to clarify that the soul’s reality does not depend on sensory visibility.