Bhishma Parva Adhyaya 69 Shloka 231 - Mahabharata | Assamese | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 231

Devanagari script

देवं चराचरात्मानं श्रीवत्साड्कं सुवर्चसम्‌ । पद्मनाभं च जानाति तमाहुस्तामसं बुधा:

Transliteration

devaṁ carācarātmānaṁ śrīvatsāṅkaṁ suvarcasam | padmanābhaṁ ca jānāti tam āhus tāmasaṁ budhāḥ ||

Translation

ভীষ্ম ক’লে—চৰ-অচৰৰ আত্মা, শ্ৰীবৎসচিহ্নধাৰী, দীপ্তিমান পদ্মনাভ দেৱক জানিও যি তেওঁক ‘তামস’ বুলে, জ্ঞানীসকলে তাক তমোগুণস্থ বুলি কয়।

Word by Word

देवम्the god

चराचरात्मानम्whose self is the moving and the unmoving (i.e., the soul of all beings)

श्रीवत्साङ्कम्marked with the Śrīvatsa (emblem)

सुवर्चसम्of splendid radiance

पद्मनाभम्Padmanābha (lotus-naveled)

चand

जानातिknows

तम्him

आहुःthey say / call

तामसम्tamasic; of darkness/ignorance

बुधाःthe wise (men)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Deva (the Lord)

Śrīvatsa (mark/emblem)

Padmanābha (Viṣṇu/Nārāyaṇa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even if one has some recognition of the Supreme Lord’s identity and glory, to mislabel or denigrate Him as ‘tāmasa’ reveals a mind dominated by tamas—ignorance and delusion. True wisdom aligns knowledge with reverent, accurate understanding.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma is describing a criterion for spiritual discernment: the wise judge a person’s inner disposition (guṇa) by how they speak about and understand the Supreme—here identified through classic Vaiṣṇava epithets and marks (Śrīvatsa, Padmanābha).