Shloka 3
निरय-परमस्थान-वर्णनम्
Niraya and the Supreme Station: A Metaphysical Re-reading
स्वर्ग: प्रकाश इत्याहुर्नरक॑ तम एव च । सत्यानृतं तदुभयं प्राप्पते जगतीचरै:
svargaḥ prakāśa ity āhur narakaṃ tama eva ca | satyānṛtaṃ tad ubhayaṃ prāpnoti jagatīcaraiḥ ||
بھردواج نے کہا—لوگ کہتے ہیں کہ سُوَرگ روشنی ہے اور نرک محض تاریکی۔ مگر انسانی حالت سچ اور جھوٹ کا آمیزہ ہے؛ اور اسی ملی جلی کیفیت میں—جہاں علم و جہالت باہم گندھے ہیں—دنیا میں چلنے پھرنے والے جسم دار جیو دونوں کا تجربہ کرتے ہیں۔
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
Heaven and hell are framed as light and darkness, but human life is portrayed as a mixed field of satya (truth/clarity) and anṛta (untruth/obscurity). Because of this mixture, beings in the world encounter both knowledge and ignorance and thereby move toward experiences associated with both ‘light’ and ‘darkness’.
In the Shanti Parva’s instructional discourse, Bharadvāja is explaining a moral-psychological mapping of realms: svarga as illumination and naraka as darkness, then qualifying it by describing the human realm as a blended condition through which worldly beings come to partake of both.