Shloka 2
निरय-परमस्थान-वर्णनम्
Niraya and the Supreme Station: A Metaphysical Re-reading
अनृतं तमसो रूप॑ तमसा नीयते हाथ: । तमोग्रस्ता न पश्यन्ति प्रकाशं तमसा55वृता:
anṛtaṁ tamaso rūpaṁ tamasā nīyate hāthaḥ | tamograstā na paśyanti prakāśaṁ tamasāvṛtāḥ ||
Bharadvāja said: “Falsehood is a form of darkness; by darkness one is dragged downward. Those seized by tamas, veiled in ignorance, do not perceive the light of true knowledge.”
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
Falsehood (anṛta) is equated with darkness (tamas): it obscures discernment and pulls a person toward moral and spiritual decline. Only by removing tamas can one perceive the ‘light’—clarity, right knowledge, and dharmic understanding.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and inner discipline, Bharadvāja teaches about the psychological and ethical consequences of untruth: those dominated by tamas become unable to recognize or access the illumination of knowledge.