Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 155 Shloka 117 - Mahabharata | German | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 117

Devanagari script

भूर्भुव:स्वस्तरुस्तार: सविता प्रपितामह: । यज्ञो यज्ञपतिर्यज्वा यज्ञाड़ो यज्ञवाहन:

Transliteration

bhūrbhuvaḥsvas tarus tāraḥ savitā prapitāmahaḥ | yajño yajñapatir yajvā yajñāṅgo yajñavāhanaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: Er ist Erde, Mittelwelt und Himmel—die drei Welten selbst; der kosmische Baum, der das Dasein trägt; der Fährmann, der die Wesen über den Ozean des saṃsāra setzt; der Schöpfer, der alles hervorbringt; der urerste Ahn, sogar jenseits Brahmās. Er ist das Opfer (yajña) selbst, der Herr, der allen Opfern vorsteht, der Opfernde, der sie vollzieht, der, dessen Leib aus Opfergliedern besteht, und die Kraft, die das Opfer trägt und bis zu seinem bestimmten Ende geleitet.

Word by Word

भूर्भुवःस्वःthe three worlds (bhū, bhuvaḥ, svaḥ)

तरुःtree

तारःdeliverer; one who ferries across

सविताthe impeller/creator (Savitar, the Sun)

प्रपितामहःgreat-grandfather; ancestor of ancestors

यज्ञःsacrifice; yajña

यज्ञपतिःlord/presiding deity of sacrifice

यज्वाsacrificer; performer of sacrifice

यज्ञाङ्गःhaving the limbs/parts of sacrifice; sacrificial-membered

यज्ञवाहनःcarrier/vehicle of sacrifice; one who conveys sacrifices

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

the three worlds (bhūḥ, bhuvaḥ, svaḥ)

Brahmā (implied by prapitāmahaḥ)

Yajña (sacrifice)

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?

The Supreme is presented as both the cosmos (the three worlds) and the sacred means within it (yajña). Therefore, righteous action and worship should be offered as participation in a divine order, not as ego-driven performance; the doer, the deed, and the goal are ultimately grounded in the same highest reality.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira and recites the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma. This verse is a cluster of divine epithets praising the Lord as cosmic foundation and as the very principle of sacrifice—its presiding lord, performer, constituents, and vehicle—emphasizing devotion and dharmic worship.