Shloka 73
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
तत्र तान् सुकृतीन् सांख्यान् सूर्यो बहति रश्मिभि: । पद्मतन्तुवदाविश्य प्रवहन् विषयान् नृप
tatra tān sukṛtīn sāṅkhyān sūryo bahati raśmibhiḥ | padma-tantuvad āviśya pravahan viṣayān nṛpa ||
Bhishma said: There, the Sun—entering those meritorious Sāṅkhya-yogins by means of his rays—bears them upward along the path of light toward the Brahma-world. O king, he carries them through the higher realms in the same way that a lotus-stalk draws up water from a lake: steadily and naturally, by an inner channel. The ethical point is that disciplined knowledge and purity of conduct mature into a luminous passage beyond ordinary worldly objects and attachments.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Purified conduct and discriminative knowledge (Sāṅkhya-yoga) culminate in an upward, luminous transition beyond sense-objects; the verse portrays cosmic order assisting the virtuous seeker, symbolized by the Sun guiding them along the path of light toward Brahmaloka.
Bhishma explains to the king that meritorious Sāṅkhya-yogins are borne upward by the Sun’s rays; using the lotus-stalk drawing water as an analogy, he depicts how they are conveyed through higher realms toward Brahmaloka via the arcir-mārga.