Shloka 13
Aśoka-śāstra: Nārada’s Instruction on the Cessation of Śoka
Grief
ऊर्णनाभेर्यथा चक्र छिद्रें सोम॑ं प्रपश्यति
ūrṇanābher yathā cakra-chidre somaṃ prapaśyati
याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच—ऊर्णनाभेर्यथा चक्रच्छिद्रे सोमं प्रपश्यति, तथा विवेकी जनोऽपि सूक्ष्मद्वारेण जगज्जालमध्यात् परं तत्त्वं पश्यति।
याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.