Shloka 133
मानसतीर्थ-शौचप्रशंसा | Praise of the ‘Mental Tīrtha’ and the Marks of Purity
पृष्ठत: सोमसंकाशे उदर्क चाभ्रसन्निभे | दक्षिणायां तु रक्ताभे अधस्तान्नीलमण्डले
pṛṣṭhataḥ somasaṅkāśe udarke cābhrasannibhe | dakṣiṇāyāṃ tu raktābhe adhastān nīlamaṇḍale ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Sa likuran, ito’y kumikislap sa mapusyaw na liwanag na gaya ng buwan; sa itaas, kahawig ito ng isang kumpol ng ulap. Sa dakong timog, mapula ang anyo nito, at sa ibaba’y may isang bilog na lawak na bughaw na madilim.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contributes to a didactic description using directional colors and celestial similes (moon, clouds, blue disk) to frame a larger moral-religious discussion: human conduct (dharma) is to be guided by attentive reading of signs, order, and meaning in the world, rather than by impulse.
Bhīṣma is describing the appearance of a phenomenon (with different hues and forms in different directions—behind, above, south, and below). The detail functions as part of a broader instructional passage in the Anuśāsana Parva, where visual/cosmic imagery supports the exposition.