Shloka 15

Devanagari script

यथा चन्द्रो ह्मावास्यामलिड्त्वान्न दृश्यते | न च नाशो<स्य भवति तथा विद्धि शरीरिणम्‌

Transliteration

yathā candro ’māvāsyām ālīḍhatvān na dṛśyate | na ca nāśo ’sya bhavati tathā viddhi śarīriṇam ||

Translation

毗湿摩说：“正如新月之夜，月亮不见，仿佛其光被吞没，然而它并未毁灭；同样，你应当理解具身之我（我执于身的自性）。即使不可见，它也并不因此而不存在。”

Word by Word

• यथा: just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• चन्द्रः: the moon
• चन्द्रः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: चन्द्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अमावास्याम्: on the new-moon night
• अमावास्याम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अमावास्या
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Singular

• लीढ्वा: having been eclipsed/covered (lit. having been licked/overrun)
• Type: Verb
• Root: लिह्
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage as gerund)

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• दृश्यते: is seen/appears
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश्
• Form: Present, Atmanepada (passive sense), Third, Singular

• न: nor/not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• नाशः: destruction/cessation
• नाशः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाश
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अस्य: of it/of him (of the moon)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• भवति: occurs/is
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Present, Parasmaipada, Third, Singular

• तथा: so/in the same way
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• विद्धि: know/understand
• Type: Verb
• Root: विद्
• Form: Imperative, Parasmaipada, Second, Singular

• शरीरिणम्: the embodied one (the self/soul as embodied)
• शरीरिणम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरीरिन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Moon (Candra)
• New-moon night (Amavasya)
• Embodied Self (śarīrin/ātman)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Non-appearance is not non-existence: the embodied Self is not annihilated when it is not perceptible, just as the moon is not destroyed when it is invisible on the new-moon night.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction, Bhishma teaches about the nature of the Self using a familiar cosmic example (the moon’s invisibility at amāvāsyā) to clarify that the soul’s reality does not depend on sensory visibility.