Shanti Parva Adhyaya 298 Shloka 27 - Mahabharata | German | Vedapath

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Shloka 27

अव्यक्त–प्रकृति–इन्द्रियविचारः

The Unmanifest, Prakṛtis, and the Sense-Complex

Devanagari script

नीहारेण हि संवीत: शिश्नरोदरपरायण: । जात्यन्ध इव पन्थानमावृतात्मा न बुद्धयते

Transliteration

nīhāreṇa hi saṃvītaḥ śiśnodara-parāyaṇaḥ | jātyandha iva panthānam āvṛtātmā na budhyate ||

Translation

Parāśara sprach: „Von einem nebelgleichen Wahn umhüllt, nur den Trieben von Lust und Bauch ergeben, begreift der Selbstverhüllte den Weg nicht—wie ein von Geburt an Blinder die Straße nicht sieht. So wird, wenn das Bewusstsein von Unwissenheit und Sinnesbesessenheit verdeckt ist, der Pfad zur Befreiung nicht erkannt.“

Word by Word

नीहारेणby/with fog, mist

हिindeed, for

संवीतःcovered, enveloped

शिश्नरोदरपरायणःdevoted to lust and belly (sex and food)

जात्यन्धःone blind from birth

इवlike, as if

पन्थानम्the path, road

आवृतात्माone whose self is covered/obscured

नnot

बुद्ध्यतेunderstands, perceives

Speaker

पराशर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Parāśara

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A mind dominated by sensuality and appetite, and veiled by ignorance, cannot discern the path to liberation—just as congenital blindness prevents seeing a road. The verse urges restraint and inner clarity as prerequisites for mokṣa.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s didactic discourse, the sage Parāśara instructs about spiritual impediments. He uses the image of fog and congenital blindness to explain why a sense-driven, deluded person fails to recognize the liberating path.