Shloka 55
Adhyāya 42 — Mahābhūta–Indriya–Adhyātma-Vyavasthā
Brahmā’s Instruction on Elements and Faculties
एतन्महार्णवं घोरमगाध॑ मोहसंज्ञितम् । विक्षिपेत् संक्षिपेच्चैव बोधयेत् सामरं जगत्
etanmahārṇavaṁ ghoraṁ agādhaṁ mohasaṁjñitam | vikṣipet saṁkṣipet caiva bodhayet sāmaraṁ jagat ||
एतन्महार्णवं घोरमगाधं मोहसंज्ञितम्। विक्षिपेत् संक्षिपेच्चैव बोधयेत् सामरं जगत्॥
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time and delusion are portrayed as a vast, terrifying ocean that alternately disperses and gathers beings—expanding and contracting worldly experience—thereby driving all creatures (even the gods) into activity and awareness. The ethical implication is to recognize this cosmic mechanism and not be overwhelmed by moha; steadiness in dharma requires seeing the world’s fluctuations as time-driven rather than absolute.
Vāyudeva speaks in a reflective, cosmological register, describing the power that governs worldly movement. Using the metaphor of a ‘great ocean’ named Moha, he explains how the world undergoes cycles of expansion and contraction and how beings are repeatedly stirred into wakefulness and action under the force of Time.