Shloka 3
Yājñavalkya on the Unity of Sāṃkhya and Yoga and the Marks of Meditative Composure
चन्द्रमा इव भुतानां पुनस्तत्र सहस्रश: । लीयतेडप्रतिबुद्धत्वादेवमेष हाबुद्धिमान्
candramā iva bhūtānāṃ punas tatra sahasraśaḥ | līyate ’pratibuddhatvād evam eṣa hy abuddhimān ||
婆悉吒说道：“正如月亮在众生眼前千回万转地亏而复盈，愚昧的具身者亦复如是——由于未曾觉悟于真实之智——千百次地归于消散（死亡），又千百次地再来受生。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Repeated birth and death (saṃsāra) continue due to non-awakening—lack of true knowledge. The verse uses the moon’s recurring waning and waxing to illustrate how the ignorant being repeatedly dissolves and reappears until awakened insight ends the cycle.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation-oriented ethics and knowledge, Vasiṣṭha addresses the condition of the unawakened individual. He explains, through a natural metaphor (the moon’s phases), why the ignorant self undergoes countless cycles of death and rebirth.