Shloka 26
Vyaktāvyakta-Viveka and Nivṛtti as Paramā Gati
Manifest–Unmanifest Discrimination and the Supreme Path of Withdrawal
दीपादन्ये यथा दीपा: प्रवर्तन्ते सहस्रश: । प्रकृति: सूयते तद्धदानन्त्यान् नापचीयते
dīpād anye yathā dīpāḥ pravartante sahasraśaḥ | prakṛtiḥ sūyate tad dhadānantyān nāpacīyate ||
ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഒരു ദീപത്തിൽ നിന്ന് ആയിരം ദീപങ്ങൾ തെളിയുന്നതുപോലെ, പ്രകൃതി നിരന്തരം അനേകരൂപങ്ങളെ പ്രസവിക്കുന്നു; എങ്കിലും ഈ അനന്ത വൈവിധ്യം സൃഷ്ടിച്ചിട്ടും അവൾ ക്ഷയിക്കുന്നില്ല.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the generative source (Prakṛti) can produce innumerable effects without losing its own fullness—like one lamp lighting many others without its flame being reduced. It supports a causal view where manifestation does not imply depletion of the underlying principle.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and higher knowledge. Here he uses a vivid analogy—lamps kindled from a lamp—to explain how the world’s multiplicity arises from Prakṛti while the originating principle remains undiminished.