Shloka 108
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
आप वर्ण और आश्रमोंके भिन्न-भिन्न कर्मोंका विधिवत् विभाग करनेवाले, जपनीय मन्त्ररूप, घोषस्वरूप तथा कोलाहलमय हैं। आपको बारंबार नमस्कार है ।।
varṇa-āśramāṇāṁ bhinna-bhinna-karmāṇāṁ vidhivad vibhāga-kartre, japanīya-mantra-rūpāya, ghoṣa-svarūpāya, kolāhala-mayāya te punaḥ punaḥ namaḥ || śveta-piṅgala-netrāya kṛṣṇa-rakta-īkṣaṇāya ca | prāṇa-bhagnāya daṇḍāya sphoṭanāya kṛśāya ca, te namaḥ ||
يُكَرِّرُ بِهِيشْمَةُ السجودَ والتحيةَ مرارًا لقوّةٍ إلهيّةٍ مهيبةٍ تُقَسِّمُ على وجهِ القاعدةِ القويمةِ أعمالَ الفَرْنَةِ (الطبقات) والآشرَمَةِ (مراحلِ الحياة) تقسيمًا مُحكَمًا؛ وتُستَدعى بتلاوةِ الذِّكرِ المقدّس (الجَپَة)؛ وحضورُها كالصيحةِ المدوّيةِ والضجيجِ العارم. ثم يُسَلِّمُ على ذلك الكائنِ الذي تبدو عيناه بألوانٍ متقابلة—بياضٌ مائلٌ إلى الصفرة، وسوادٌ، وحُمرةٌ—وقد قهرَ البرانا (نَفَسَ الحياة)؛ وهو الدَّنْدَةُ، عصا التأديب وسلاحُ العقاب؛ القادرُ على تحطيمِ إناءِ الكونِ نفسه؛ النحيلُ الجسد.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises a cosmic authority who properly assigns differentiated duties (karma) within varṇa and āśrama, implying that social-ethical order is not arbitrary but grounded in rule (vidhi) and upheld by a power that also disciplines (daṇḍa). It links dharma with disciplined practice—mantra-recitation and mastery of prāṇa—showing that order, austerity, and reverent invocation belong together.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction setting, Bhīṣma speaks in a devotional register, offering repeated salutations (namaḥ) to a fierce, all-pervading divine principle. He describes that being through striking epithets—sound-like, tumultuous, mantra-embodied, breath-conquering, rod-like, and world-shattering—conveying both reverence and fear before the power that sustains and enforces dharma.