Shloka 56
Umā–Maheśvara-saṃvāda: Varṇa-bhraṃśa, Ācāra (Vṛtta), and Karmic Ascent/Decline
पूजितं च जगत् तेन सदेवासुरमानुषम् । जो मनुष्य अश्व॒त्थ वृक्ष, गोरोचना और गौकी सदा पूजा करता है, उसके द्वारा देवताओं, असुरों और मनुष्योंसहित सम्पूर्ण जगत्की पूजा हो जाती है
pūjitaṃ ca jagat tena sadevāsuramānuṣam | yo manuṣyaḥ aśvattha-vṛkṣaṃ gorocanāṃ ca gauṃ ca sadā pūjayati, tena devatā-asura-mānuṣaiḥ sahitaṃ samastaṃ jagat pūjitaṃ bhavati |
„Durch einen solchen Menschen ist gleichsam die ganze Welt verehrt—zusammen mit den Göttern, den Asuras und den Menschen. Denn wer fortwährend den Aśvattha-Baum (heilige Feige), Gorocanā (glückverheißendes gelbes Pigment) und die Kuh ehrt, erweist damit dem gesamten Kosmos seine Verehrung.“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Honoring certain sacred supports of dharmic life—especially the aśvattha tree, auspicious ritual substances like gorocanā, and the cow—is presented as a comprehensive act of reverence that symbolically extends to all beings (gods, asuras, and humans). The verse frames such worship as universal respect rather than a narrow, sectarian act.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma, including duties, gifts, vows, and forms of worship that generate merit and social-ethical harmony. Here he states that a person who regularly venerates the aśvattha tree, gorocanā, and the cow effectively worships the entire world, emphasizing the expansive moral reach of such practices.