Shloka 85
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
नमो होत्रेडथ मन्त्राय शुक्लध्वजपताकिने । नमो नाभाय नाभ्याय नम: कटकटाय च
namo hotre ’tha mantrāya śukladhvajapatākine | namo nābhāya nābhyāya namaḥ kaṭakaṭāya ca ||
আপুনিই হোতা আৰু আপুনিই মন্ত্ৰ—আপোনাক নমস্কাৰ। শ্বেত ধ্বজা-পতাকাধাৰী—আপোনাক নমস্কাৰ। আপুনি নাভ—য’ত সমগ্ৰ জগত ধাৰিত; আপুনি নাভ্য—সংসাৰচক্ৰৰ নাভিস্থান; আৰু আপুনি কটকট—আৱৰণৰো আৱৰণ। আপোনাক নমস্কাৰ॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a devotional vision in which the Supreme is not separate from sacred action and sacred speech: the deity is identified with the Hotṛ of sacrifice and with mantra itself, and also with the cosmic ‘hub’ that sustains and centers the universe. Reverence is directed to the divine as both ritual presence and metaphysical ground.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma continues a hymn-like praise, offering successive epithets to the Supreme (often understood as Nārāyaṇa/Viṣṇu in this section). He salutes the deity through Vedic and cosmic identifiers—priest, mantra, white-bannered lord, and the universe’s sustaining center—deepening the contemplative tone of instruction after the war.