Shloka 18
Yoga, Nārāyaṇa as Supreme Principle, and the Emanation of Categories
Sāṅkhya-Yoga Outline
जन्म वृद्धि: क्षयश्चास्य प्रत्यक्षेणोपलभ्यते । सा तु चान्द्रमसी वृत्ति्न तु तस्य शरीरिण:,जन्म, वृद्धि और क्षयका जो प्रत्यक्ष दर्शन होता है, वह चन्द्रमण्डलमें प्रतीत होनेवाली वृत्ति चन्द्रमाकी नहीं है। उसी प्रकार शरीरका ही जन्म आदि होता है, उस शरीरधारी आत्माका नहीं
janma vṛddhiḥ kṣayaś cāsya pratyakṣeṇopalabhyate | sā tu cāndramasī vṛttir na tu tasya śarīriṇaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Birth, growth, and decay are indeed perceived directly in this world. Yet the waxing and waning seen in the lunar orb is not a change belonging to the moon itself. In the same way, what is observed as birth and the rest pertains to the body alone, not to the embodied Self.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Perceived change—birth, growth, and decay—belongs to the body and to appearances, not to the embodied Self (ātman). The verse uses the moon’s waxing and waning as an analogy: the visible phases are an appearance, not an intrinsic alteration of the moon itself.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and higher knowledge. Here he advances a contemplative point: do not mistake observable bodily change for change in the Self; ethical steadiness and detachment arise from discerning the difference.