Shloka 8
निरय-परमस्थान-वर्णनम्
Niraya and the Supreme Station: A Metaphysical Re-reading
राहुग्रस्तस्य सोमस्य यथा ज्योत्स्ना न भासते । तथा तमो5भिभूतानां भूतानां नश्यते सुखम्,जैसे राहुसे ग्रस्त होनेपर चन्द्रमाकी चाँदनी प्रकाशमें नहीं आती, उसी प्रकार तम (अज्ञान एवं दुःख) से पीड़ित हुए प्राणियोंका सुख नष्ट हो जाता है
rāhugrastasya somasya yathā jyotsnā na bhāsate | tathā tamo'bhibhūtānāṃ bhūtānāṃ naśyate sukham ||
Bharadvāja said: “Just as the moon’s radiance does not shine when Soma is seized by Rāhu, so too the happiness of living beings is destroyed when they are overwhelmed by darkness—ignorance and suffering. When the mind is eclipsed by delusion, joy cannot manifest, even if its causes seem present.”
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
Happiness is not merely produced by external conditions; it depends on inner clarity. When tamas—ignorance, delusion, and the heaviness of suffering—overpowers a being, joy cannot shine, just as moonlight vanishes during an eclipse.
In the Shānti Parva’s instruction-oriented setting, Bharadvāja teaches through a vivid natural image: the eclipse of the moon by Rāhu. He uses it to explain a moral-psychological point—how inner darkness eclipses well-being.