Shloka 21
Yoga, Nārāyaṇa as Supreme Principle, and the Emanation of Categories
Sāṅkhya-Yoga Outline
यथा चन्द्रार्कसंयुक्ते तमस्तदुपलभ्यते । तद्वच्छरीरसंयुक्त: शरीरीत्युपलभ्यते
yathā candrārkasaṁyukte tamas tad upalabhyate | tadvac charīrasaṁyuktaḥ śarīrīty upalabhyate
Bhīṣma nói: “Như bóng tối chỉ được nhận biết khi đặt trong tương quan với Mặt Trăng và Mặt Trời, cũng vậy, tự ngã mang thân chỉ được nhận ra là ‘kẻ có thân’ khi nó kết hợp với thân xác.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the notion of being an ‘embodied self’ (śarīrī) is contingent upon association with the body (śarīra). Identity-descriptions arise through conjunction and perception, not because the self’s essential nature is inherently bodily.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on dharma and higher understanding, Bhīṣma continues advising Yudhiṣṭhira using an analogy from natural perception (darkness in relation to moon and sun) to clarify how the self is conceptually grasped in relation to the body.