Shloka 9

Varāha-avatāra: Viṣṇu’s subterranean intervention and the cosmic nāda (Śānti-parva 202)

Devanagari script

यथा प्रदीप्त: पुरत: प्रदीप: प्रकाशमन्यस्य करोति दीप्यन्‌ | तथेह पज्चेन्द्रियदीपवृक्षा ज्ञानप्रदीप्ता: परवन्त एव,जिस प्रकार अग्निसे प्रज्वलित दीपक स्वयं प्रकाशित होता हुआ पासमें स्थित अन्य वस्तुओंको भी प्रकाशित कर देता है, उसी प्रकार इस शरीररूप वृक्षमें स्थित पाँच इन्द्रियाँ चैतन्यरूपी ज्ञानके प्रकाशसे प्रकाशित होकर विषयोंको प्रकाशित करती हैं (उनका प्रकाश चिन्मय प्रकाशके ही अधीन होनेके कारण वे पराधीन हैं। स्वतः प्रकाश करनेमें समर्थ नहीं हैं)

Transliteration

yathā pradīptaḥ purataḥ pradīpaḥ prakāśam anyasya karoti dīpyan | tathaiha pañcendriya-dīpa-vṛkṣe jñāna-pradīptāḥ paravanta eva ||

Translation

Disse Bhishma: Assim como uma lâmpada, acesa pelo fogo, brilha por si mesma e, ardendo, ilumina também as coisas colocadas ao redor, assim também neste corpo—comparado a uma árvore que traz como lâmpadas os cinco sentidos—os sentidos são acesos pelo fulgor da consciência na forma de conhecimento e, por isso, revelam os seus objetos. Contudo, seu poder de iluminar é dependente: não resplandecem por si, mas apenas sob a soberania dessa luz interior.

Word by Word

यथाjust as

प्रदीप्तःkindled, inflamed

पुरतःin front, before

प्रदीपःlamp

प्रकाशम्light, illumination

अन्यस्यof another (object)

करोतिmakes, causes

दीप्यन्shining, blazing

तथाso, in the same way

इहhere (in this context/body)

पञ्चेन्द्रिय-दीप-वृक्षाःthe ‘lamp-trees’ of the five senses (i.e., senses as lamps in the body-tree)

ज्ञान-प्रदीप्ताःkindled/illumined by knowledge

परवन्तःdependent on another, not autonomous

एवindeed, only

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

lamp (pradīpa)

fire (implied as the kindling source)

five senses (pañcendriya)

body as a tree (vṛkṣa metaphor)

knowledge/consciousness (jñāna)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The senses can reveal objects only because they are illumined by the inner light of consciousness/knowledge; therefore sensory cognition is dependent, and true authority belongs to the knowing Self rather than to the senses.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma and liberation, Bhishma explains to the listener through a lamp metaphor that the five senses in the body function only when empowered by the deeper principle of awareness, emphasizing inner discernment over sensory compulsion.