Shloka 149
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
चतुर्मुखो बहुमुखो रणेष्वग्निमुखस्तथा । हिरण्यगर्भ: शकुनिर्महोरगपतिर्विराट्,आप ही काम, बिन्दु, अणु (सूक्ष्म) और स्थूलरूप हैं। आप कनेरके फूलकी माला अधिक पसंद करते हैं। आप ही नन्दीमुख, भीममुख (भयंकर मुखवाले), सुमुख, दुर्मुख, अमुख (मुखरहित), चतुर्मुख, बहुमुख तथा युद्धके समय शत्रुका संहार करनेके कारण अग्निमुख (अग्निके समान मुखवाले) हैं। हिरण्यगर्भ (ब्रह्मा), शकुनि (पक्षीके समान असंग), महान् सर्पोंके स्वामी (शेषनाग) और विराट भी आप ही हैं
caturmukho bahumukho raṇeṣv agnimukhas tathā | hiraṇyagarbhaḥ śakunir mahoragapatir virāṭ ||
Bhīṣma said: “You are the four-faced and the many-faced; in battles you are ‘fire-faced’, for you consume the foe. You are Hiraṇyagarbha (the cosmic source identified with Brahmā), you are Śakuni (bird-like, moving unattached), you are the lord of the great serpents (Śeṣa), and you are Virāṭ (the all-pervading cosmic form).” In this hymn, the speaker gathers diverse cosmic and martial epithets to affirm that the Supreme is present in creation, in terrifying power, and in the sustaining order behind all forms.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a non-sectarian vision of the Supreme: the one reality is praised through many names and functions—creator (Hiraṇyagarbha), cosmic totality (Virāṭ), sustainer (lord of serpents/Śeṣa), and destroyer in battle (Agnimukha). Ethical implication: reverence is due to the divine order manifest in all roles, not only in gentle forms but also in formidable power that upholds dharma.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma delivers teachings and hymns from his bed of arrows. Here he continues a stuti (praise) by listing exalted epithets, asserting that the addressed deity encompasses multiple cosmic identities and battle-aspects, thereby framing the post-war instruction within a vision of universal divinity.