Shloka 17
आत्मदर्शन-उपदेशः (Ātma-darśana Upadeśa) — Mind, Senses, and the All-pervading Self
दैवे रात्यहनी वर्ष प्रविभागस्तयो: पुनः । अहस्तत्रोदगयन रात्रि: स्याद् दक्षिणायनम्
daive rātryahanī varṣa-pravibhāgas tayoḥ punaḥ | ahas tatrodagayanaṃ rātriḥ syād dakṣiṇāyanam ||
Wika ni Vyāsa: Para sa mga diyos, ang isang taon ng tao ay katumbas ng isang araw at isang gabi. Ganito ang paghahati ng kanilang araw at gabi: ang paglalakbay ng araw pahilaga (uttarāyaṇa) ang kanilang araw, at ang paglalakbay nito patimog (dakṣiṇāyaṇa) ang kanilang gabi.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a cosmological perspective on time: human measures are not absolute. A full human year corresponds to a single day-night cycle for the gods, with uttarāyaṇa as their day and dakṣiṇāyaṇa as their night—inviting reflection on the relativity of time and the larger moral-spiritual order (dharma) governing the universe.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional discourse, Vyāsa explains the structure of cosmic time. He defines how the gods experience day and night, mapping it onto the sun’s northward and southward movements, as part of a broader teaching on time, duty, and the order of the world.