Shloka 27
Skanda-janma: Śivā/Svāhā, Agni, and the Manifestation of Guha
Mahābhārata 3.214
प्रदीप्तेनेव दीपेन मनोदीपेन पश्यति । दृष्टवा55त्मानं निरात्मानं स तदा विप्रमुच्यते,मनुष्यको चाहिये कि वह हलका भोजन करे और अन्तःकरणको शुद्ध रखे। रातके पहले और पिछले पहरमें सदा अपना मन परमात्माके चिन्तनमें लगावे। जो इस प्रकार निरन्तर अपने हृदयमें परमात्माके साक्षात्कारका अभ्यास करता है, वह प्रज्वलित दीपकके समान प्रकाशित होनेवाले अपने मनोमय प्रदीपके द्वारा निराकार परमेश्वरका साक्षात्कार करके तत्काल मुक्त हो जाता है
pradīpteneva dīpena manodīpena paśyati | dṛṣṭvāt mānaṃ nirātmānaṃ sa tadā vipramucyate ||
The hunter said: As one sees by the light of a blazing lamp, so does a seeker see by the lamp of the mind. When, through that inner illumination, he beholds the Self as free from all that is not-Self, he is then immediately released. The teaching urges a disciplined life—light food, purity of heart, and steady contemplation of the Supreme in the early and late watches of the night—so that direct realization arises and liberation follows.
व्याध उवाच
Educational Q&A
Inner realization is compared to seeing by a bright lamp: when the mind becomes a clear inner light through purity and contemplation, one directly discerns the Self from the not-Self and thereby attains liberation.
In the Vyādha’s instruction (the hunter-teacher episode in Vana Parva), he explains a practical path of discipline and meditation, using the metaphor of a lamp to describe how the purified mind enables direct vision of the Self and leads to release.