Shloka 9
Aśoka-śāstra: Nārada’s Instruction on the Cessation of Śoka
Grief
यो5रुन्धतीं न पश्येत दृष्टपूर्वां कदाचन । तथैव ध्रुवमित्याहु: पूर्णेन्दुं दीपमेव च
yo 'rundhatīṁ na paśyet dṛṣṭapūrvāṁ kadācana | tathaiva dhruvam ity āhuḥ pūrṇenduṁ dīpam eva ca ||
Yājñavalkya dit : « Celui qui n’a jamais vu Arundhatī auparavant ne saurait la reconnaître ; de même, on dit d’une chose qu’elle est “fixe” ou “certaine” en montrant des exemples familiers — l’étoile Dhruva (l’étoile polaire), la pleine lune ou une lampe. »
याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Certainty and recognition depend on prior acquaintance and reliable exemplars: what is unfamiliar cannot be readily identified, so instruction often uses well-known standards (like Dhruva, the full moon, or a lamp) to convey ‘fixedness’ or clarity.
In a didactic passage of Śānti Parva, Yājñavalkya explains a point about knowledge and assurance by analogy: just as Arundhatī cannot be recognized by someone who has never seen her, so people establish conviction by referring to commonly recognized, stable or luminous examples.