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 ||
Disse Bhīṣma: “Assim como de uma única lâmpada podem ser acesas incontáveis lâmpadas, assim também Prakṛti faz surgir continuamente formas múltiplas. E, ainda que produza essa infinitude, não se diminui.”
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.