Shloka 13

Aśoka-śāstra: Nārada’s Instruction on the Cessation of Śoka

Grief

Devanagari script

ऊर्णनाभेर्यथा चक्र छिद्रें सोम॑ं प्रपश्यति

Transliteration

ūrṇanābher yathā cakra-chidre somaṃ prapaśyati

Translation

یاجنولکیہ نے کہا—جس طرح مکڑی اپنے جال کے چکر کے سوراخ سے چاند کو دیکھ لیتی ہے، اسی طرح صاحبِ بصیرت انسان اس جگت کے جال کے بیچ ایک لطیف دریچے سے برتر حقیقت کا ادراک کر لیتا ہے۔

Word by Word

• ūrṇanābheḥ: of the spider
• ūrṇanābheḥ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: ūrṇanābhi
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• yathā: as/just as
• yathā: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā

• cakra: wheel/circle (web-like circle)
• cakra: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: cakra
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• chidre: in the hole/opening
• chidre: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: chidra
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• somam: the moon (Soma)
• somam: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: soma
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• prapaśyati: sees/beholds
• prapaśyati: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra√paś (paś)
• Form: Present, Third, Singular

Speaker

याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• याज्ञवल्क्य (Yājñavalkya)
• ऊर्णनाभि (spider)
• सोम (the Moon/Soma)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.