Shloka 21
Yoga, Nārāyaṇa as Supreme Principle, and the Emanation of Categories
Sāṅkhya-Yoga Outline
यथा चन्द्रार्कसंयुक्ते तमस्तदुपलभ्यते । तद्वच्छरीरसंयुक्त: शरीरीत्युपलभ्यते
yathā candrārkasaṁyukte tamas tad upalabhyate | tadvac charīrasaṁyuktaḥ śarīrīty upalabhyate
Bhīṣma said: “Just as darkness is perceived only when it stands in relation to the moon and the sun, so too the embodied self is recognized as an ‘embodied being’ only when conjoined with a body.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the notion of being an ‘embodied self’ (śarīrī) is contingent upon association with the body (śarīra). Identity-descriptions arise through conjunction and perception, not because the self’s essential nature is inherently bodily.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and higher understanding, Bhīṣma continues advising Yudhiṣṭhira using an analogy from natural perception (darkness in relation to moon and sun) to clarify how the self is conceptually grasped in relation to the body.