Shloka 42
मनु-उपदेशः — भूत-उत्पत्ति, इन्द्रिय-निवृत्ति, तथा पर-स्वभाव-विवेकः
Manu’s Instruction on Elemental Origination, Sense-Withdrawal, and Discrimination of the Supreme Nature
इन्द्रियैस्तु प्रदीपार्थ कुरुते बुद्धिसप्तमै: । निर्विचेष्टेरजानद्धिः परमात्मा प्रदीपवत्
indriyaistu pradīpārthaṃ kurute buddhisaptamaiḥ | nirviceṣṭerajānaḍḍhiḥ paramātmā pradīpavat ||
इन्द्रियैस्तु प्रदीपार्थं कुरुते बुद्धिसप्तमैः । निर्विचेष्टेरजानद्धिः परमात्मा प्रदीपवत् ॥ यथा घटस्थो दीपः घटच्छिद्रैः स्वप्रभां प्रसार्य विषयान् प्रकाशयति, तथा देहान्तःस्थितः परमात्मा चेष्टाज्ञानशून्यानि इन्द्रियाणि मनोबुद्ध्यादीनि च सप्त साधनानि उपादाय सर्वपदार्थानामनुभवं जनयति ॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Consciousness (Paramātman) is the inner illuminator: the senses, mind, and intellect are inert instruments that function like openings for a lamp’s light. Knowing and experience occur because the Self ‘lights up’ these faculties, not because the faculties are independently conscious.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and liberation-oriented wisdom. Here he uses a vivid metaphor (lamp inside a pot) to explain how the inner Self enables cognition through the bodily instruments, supporting a teaching on the distinction between the Self and the psycho-physical apparatus.