Shloka 68

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच श्रूयतां देवदेवस्य 42426 सडक :। गूढव्रतस्य गुह्मानि प्रकाशानि च भारत,भीष्मजी कहते हैं--भरतनन्दन! अद्भुत कर्म करनेवाले गूढ व्रतधारी देवाधिदेव महादेवजीके कुछ नाम गोपनीय हैं और कुछ प्रकाशित हैं। तुम उन सबको सुनो

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca: śrūyatāṃ devadevasya … gūḍhavratasya guhyāni prakāśāni ca bhārata.

Translation

قال بهيشما: «يا سليلَ بهاراتا، اسمع. إن لمهاديڤا—إلهِ الآلهة، صاحبِ النُّذور العميقة والأفعال العجيبة—أسماءً منها ما هو مستورٌ سرًّا، ومنها ما يُعلَن جهارًا. فاسمعها كلَّها».

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'śrūyatām': 'let it be heard

• listen (imperative/passive exhortation)', 'devadevasya': 'of the god of gods (supreme deity)', 'mahādeva': 'Mahadeva

• a principal epithet of Śiva', 'gūḍha': 'hidden, profound, secret', 'vrata': 'vow

• disciplined practice', 'gūḍhavratasya': 'of one whose vows/observances are secret or profound', 'guhyāni': 'secret things

• esoteric (here: secret names/epithets)', 'prakāśāni': 'manifest, public, openly known (here: public names/epithets)', 'ca': 'and', 'bhārata': 'O Bhārata

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Bhārata (Yudhiṣṭhira as addressee)
• Devadeva
• Mahādeva (Śiva)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a dharmic approach to devotion: the divine can be approached through both publicly known epithets and more guarded, esoteric names. It signals that spiritual knowledge has levels—some meant for general recitation and some reserved for disciplined seekers—yet both belong to the same sacred reality.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva dialogue, Bhishma continues instructing Yudhiṣṭhira. Here he introduces a forthcoming enumeration or discussion of Mahādeva’s names, distinguishing between secret (guhya) and openly proclaimed (prakāśa) designations, and asks the king to listen attentively.