Shloka 13

Devanagari script

ऊर्णनाभेर्यथा चक्र छिद्रें सोम॑ं प्रपश्यति

Transliteration

ūrṇanābher yathā cakra-chidre somaṃ prapaśyati

Translation

Yājñavalkya berkata: “Sebagaimana seekor labah-labah, memandang melalui bukaan pada pusat jaringnya, melihat bulan, demikian juga orang yang arif menangkap hakikat yang lebih tinggi melalui suatu ‘celah’ yang halus—titik pandang yang telah dimurnikan—di tengah anyaman struktur dunia.”

Word by Word

• ūrṇanābheḥ: of the spider
• ūrṇanābheḥ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: ūrṇanābhi
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• yathā: as/just as
• yathā: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā

• cakra: wheel/circle (web-like circle)
• cakra: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: cakra
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• chidre: in the hole/opening
• chidre: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: chidra
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• somam: the moon (Soma)
• somam: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: soma
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• prapaśyati: sees/beholds
• prapaśyati: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra√paś (paś)
• Form: Present, Third, Singular

Speaker

याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• याज्ञवल्क्य (Yājñavalkya)
• ऊर्णनाभि (spider)
• सोम (the Moon/Soma)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True understanding is not gained by grasping the whole ‘web’ of appearances, but by cultivating a subtle, focused insight—through which one can directly perceive the higher truth beyond worldly constructions.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s didactic setting, Yājñavalkya instructs through a vivid analogy: the spider and its web illustrate how the mind’s structures can both obscure and, when rightly ‘opened’ by discernment, become a means to perceive what is otherwise distant or hidden.