Shloka 17
आत्मदर्शन-उपदेशः (Ātma-darśana Upadeśa) — Mind, Senses, and the All-pervading Self
दैवे रात्यहनी वर्ष प्रविभागस्तयो: पुनः । अहस्तत्रोदगयन रात्रि: स्याद् दक्षिणायनम्
daive rātryahanī varṣa-pravibhāgas tayoḥ punaḥ | ahas tatrodagayanaṃ rātriḥ syād dakṣiṇāyanam ||
ヴィヤーサは言った。「神々にとって、人間の一年は一つの昼と一つの夜に等しい。彼らの昼夜の区分はこうである。太陽の北行（ウッタラーヤナ）が彼らの昼であり、南行（ダクシナーヤナ）が彼らの夜である。」
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a cosmological perspective on time: human measures are not absolute. A full human year corresponds to a single day-night cycle for the gods, with uttarāyaṇa as their day and dakṣiṇāyaṇa as their night—inviting reflection on the relativity of time and the larger moral-spiritual order (dharma) governing the universe.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional discourse, Vyāsa explains the structure of cosmic time. He defines how the gods experience day and night, mapping it onto the sun’s northward and southward movements, as part of a broader teaching on time, duty, and the order of the world.