Shloka 16

आत्मदर्शन-उपदेशः (Ātma-darśana Upadeśa) — Mind, Senses, and the All-pervading Self

Devanagari script

पित्र्ये राग्यहनी मास: प्रविभागस्तयो: पुनः । शुक्लो5ह: कर्मचेष्टायां कृष्ण: स्पप्नाय शर्वरी

Transliteration

pitrye rātryahani māsaḥ pravibhāgas tayoḥ punaḥ | śuklo 'haḥ karmaceṣṭāyāṃ kṛṣṇaḥ svapnāya śarvarī ||

Translation

ব্যাস ব্যাখ্যা করেন—পিতৃলোকের হিসাবে মানুষের এক মাসই এক দিন-রাত্রি। সেখানে শুক্লপক্ষ তাদের দিন—কর্মচেষ্টার সময়; আর কৃষ্ণপক্ষ তাদের রাত্রি—বিশ্রাম ও নিদ্রার সময়।

Word by Word

• पित्र्ये: in/for the Pitṛs (manes)
• पित्र्ये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• रात्र्यहनी: night and day (a day-night pair)
• रात्र्यहनी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: रात्रि + अहन्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Dual

• मासः: a month
• मासः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मास
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्रविभागः: division, allocation
• प्रविभागः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रविभाग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तयोः: of those two (of the two halves)
• तयोः: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Dual

• पुनः: again; further
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः

• शुक्लः: bright (fortnight)
• शुक्लः: Visheshana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुक्ल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अहः: day
• अहः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अहन्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• कर्मचेष्टायाम्: in activity/work-effort
• कर्मचेष्टायाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मचेष्टा
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• कृष्णः: dark (fortnight)
• कृष्णः: Visheshana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृष्ण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• स्वप्नाय: for sleep/rest
• स्वप्नाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वप्न
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• शर्वरी: night
• शर्वरी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शर्वरी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• Pitṛs (ancestors)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Time is relative across realms: the Pitṛs experience a different day-night cycle, where a human month equals their full day and night. This frames human observances within a broader dharmic cosmos and encourages disciplined, timely performance of duties and ancestral rites.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa is instructing about cosmological time-reckoning connected with the ancestors (Pitṛs), explaining that the bright fortnight corresponds to their active daytime and the dark fortnight to their restful night.