Shloka 25
Prahlāda–Indra Saṃvāda: Kartṛtva (Agency) and Svabhāva (Nature) in the Causation of Karma
साधन आरम्भ कर देनेपर उसे बीचमें न रोके। जैसे आग धीरे-धीरे तेज की जाती है, उसी प्रकार ज्ञानके साधनको शनैः-शनै: उद्दीपित करे। ऐसा करनेसे ज्ञान सूर्यके समान प्रकाशित होने लगता है ।। ज्ञानाधिष्ठानमज्ञानं त्रींललोकानधितिष्ठति । विज्ञानानुगतं ज्ञानमज्ञानेनापकृष्यते,अज्ञानका अधिष्ठान भी ज्ञान ही है जो तीनों लोकोंमें व्याप्त है। अज्ञानके द्वारा विज्ञानयुक्त ज्ञानका हास होता है
sādhanaṃ ārambhaṃ kṛtvā madhye na nivārayet | yathā agniḥ śanaiḥ-śanaiḥ tīvraḥ kriyate tathā jñānasya sādhanam api śanaiḥ-śanaiḥ uddīpayet | evaṃ kṛte jñānaṃ sūryavat prakāśate || jñānādhiṣṭhānam ajñānaṃ trīṃl lokān adhitiṣṭhati | vijñānānugataṃ jñānam ajñānena apākṛṣyate ||
Bhīṣma says: Once a discipline has been undertaken, one should not interrupt it midway. Just as fire is gradually intensified, so too should the means of knowledge be kindled little by little; when done in this way, knowledge begins to shine like the sun. Even ignorance rests upon knowledge, which pervades and upholds the three worlds; yet through ignorance, knowledge that is guided by discernment is diminished and drawn away.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not abandon a discipline once begun; cultivate the means to knowledge gradually and steadily. True knowledge becomes luminous through sustained practice, while ignorance can obscure even discernment-guided understanding.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction to Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīṣma continues ethical-spiritual counsel, using the metaphor of slowly intensifying fire to recommend patient, uninterrupted cultivation of knowledge and warning how ignorance diminishes insight.