Shloka 15
Yoga, Nārāyaṇa as Supreme Principle, and the Emanation of Categories
Sāṅkhya-Yoga Outline
यथा चन्द्रो ह्मावास्यामलिड्त्वान्न दृश्यते | न च नाशो<स्य भवति तथा विद्धि शरीरिणम्
yathā candro ’māvāsyām ālīḍhatvān na dṛśyate | na ca nāśo ’sya bhavati tathā viddhi śarīriṇam ||
Bhīṣma dit : «De même que la lune, la nuit de nouvelle lune, n’est pas vue, comme si sa lumière avait été engloutie, et pourtant elle n’est pas détruite, ainsi dois-tu comprendre le Soi incarné. Même lorsqu’il devient invisible, il ne cesse pas d’exister.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Non-appearance is not non-existence: the embodied Self is not annihilated when it is not perceptible, just as the moon is not destroyed when it is invisible on the new-moon night.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction, Bhishma teaches about the nature of the Self using a familiar cosmic example (the moon’s invisibility at amāvāsyā) to clarify that the soul’s reality does not depend on sensory visibility.