Shloka 3
Yājñavalkya on the Unity of Sāṃkhya and Yoga and the Marks of Meditative Composure
चन्द्रमा इव भुतानां पुनस्तत्र सहस्रश: । लीयतेडप्रतिबुद्धत्वादेवमेष हाबुद्धिमान्,जैसे चन्द्रमाका सहस्रों बार क्षय और सहस्(्रों बार वृद्धि होती रहती है, उसी प्रकार अज्ञानी जीव भी अज्ञानवश ही सहस्रों बार लयको प्राप्त होता है (और जन्म लेता है)
candramā iva bhūtānāṃ punas tatra sahasraśaḥ | līyate ’pratibuddhatvād evam eṣa hy abuddhimān ||
Vasiṣṭha berkata: “Sebagaimana bulan di hadapan makhluk-makhluk tampak menyusut dan kembali penuh berulang-ulang, demikian pula diri berjasad yang bodoh ini—karena belum terbangun pada pengetahuan sejati—berkali-kali larut (mati) dan lahir kembali, ribuan kali.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Repeated birth and death (saṃsāra) continue due to non-awakening—lack of true knowledge. The verse uses the moon’s recurring waning and waxing to illustrate how the ignorant being repeatedly dissolves and reappears until awakened insight ends the cycle.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation-oriented ethics and knowledge, Vasiṣṭha addresses the condition of the unawakened individual. He explains, through a natural metaphor (the moon’s phases), why the ignorant self undergoes countless cycles of death and rebirth.