Shloka 5
Adhyāya 270 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s inquiry on saṃnyāsa; Bhīṣma on calculable time, tamas, and karma
Vṛtra–Uśanā exemplum begins
ततश्रिन्तामनुप्राप्त: कतमद्दैवतं तु तत् यन्ये द्रुतं प्रसीदेत मानुषैरजडीकृतम्
tataś cintām anuprāptaḥ katamad daivataṃ tu tat | yan me drutaṃ prasīdet mānuṣair ajadīkṛtam ||
Bhishma sprach: „Da verfiel er in Grübeln: ‚Welche Gottheit ist es, die mir rasch gewogen wäre und die die Menschen durch ihre Art der Verehrung nicht zu etwas Starrem, bloß Mechanischem gemacht haben?‘“
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights discernment in devotion: one should seek the living divine reality that responds to sincere inner surrender, not a deity-concept turned into a rigid, mechanical object through merely external, habitual worship.
Bhishma describes entering a state of contemplation, trying to identify which deity would swiftly grant grace—specifically, a deity not reduced by human practice into an inert, formulaic focus of worship.