Shloka 9
Aśoka-śāstra: Nārada’s Instruction on the Cessation of Śoka
Grief
यो5रुन्धतीं न पश्येत दृष्टपूर्वां कदाचन । तथैव ध्रुवमित्याहु: पूर्णेन्दुं दीपमेव च
yo 'rundhatīṁ na paśyet dṛṣṭapūrvāṁ kadācana | tathaiva dhruvam ity āhuḥ pūrṇenduṁ dīpam eva ca ||
جس نے کبھی پہلے ارُندھتی کو نہ دیکھا ہو وہ اسے پہچان نہیں سکتا؛ اسی طرح لوگ ‘دھرو’ یا ‘یقینی’ کہہ کر قطبی تارا، پورا چاند اور چراغ جیسے مانوس نمونوں کی طرف اشارہ کرتے ہیں۔
याज्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Certainty and recognition depend on prior acquaintance and reliable exemplars: what is unfamiliar cannot be readily identified, so instruction often uses well-known standards (like Dhruva, the full moon, or a lamp) to convey ‘fixedness’ or clarity.
In a didactic passage of Śānti Parva, Yājñavalkya explains a point about knowledge and assurance by analogy: just as Arundhatī cannot be recognized by someone who has never seen her, so people establish conviction by referring to commonly recognized, stable or luminous examples.