Shloka 15
Adhyāya 241: Guṇa-sṛṣṭi, Kṣetrajña-sākṣitva, and Śama through Ātma-jñāna (गुणसृष्टिः, क्षेत्रज्ञसाक्षित्वं, शमः)
विद्यामयो<न्य: पुरुषस्तात कर्ममयो5पर: । विद्धि चन्द्रमसं दर्शे सूक्ष्म्पा कलया स्थितम्
vidyāmayo 'nyaḥ puruṣas tāta karmamayo 'paraḥ | viddhi candramasaṁ darśe sūkṣmāṁ kalayā sthitam ||
তাত! বিদ্যাময় পুৰুষ এক প্ৰকাৰ, আৰু কৰ্মময় (কৰ্মাসক্ত) পুৰুষ আন প্ৰকাৰ। ইয়াক চন্দ্ৰৰ দৃষ্টান্তে বুজা—অমাৱস্যাৰ ৰাতি সি কেৱল এক সূক্ষ্ম কলা ৰূপে অৱস্থিত থাকে।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Bhishma distinguishes two orientations of human life: one grounded in knowledge (vidyā), which tends toward inner steadiness and clarity, and another dominated by action with attachment to results (karma), which keeps a person moving through alternating states of increase and decrease—gain and loss, rise and fall.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction section, Bhishma addresses the listener (Yudhishthira) and uses a natural image—the moon reduced to a barely perceptible portion on the new-moon night—to illustrate how the action-bound person remains caught in fluctuating conditions, unlike the knowledge-formed person.