Shloka 156

धर्मद्वारबहुत्वविमर्शः — Reflection on the Many ‘Doors’ of Dharma (Śānti-parva 342)

Devanagari script

अनिरुद्ध इति प्रोक्तो लोकानां प्रभवाप्यय: । उसीसे सृष्टि और प्रलय आदि सम्पूर्ण विकार प्रकट होते हैं। वही तप

Transliteration

aniruddha iti prokto lokānāṃ prabhavāpyayaḥ |

Translation

Arjuna sprach: Er wird „Aniruddha“ genannt—die Quelle, aus der die Welten hervorgehen und in die sie sich wieder auflösen. Aus ihm gehen Schöpfung und Auflösung und alle Wandlungen des Daseins hervor; er ist Askese, Opfer und Opfernder; er ist der uralte kosmische Mensch (Virāṭ), der die Ordnung der Welt trägt.

Word by Word

• अनिरुद्धः: Aniruddha (name/epithet)
• अनिरुद्धः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनिरुद्ध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इति: thus; as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• प्रोक्तः: called; said; spoken of
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-वच् (धातु) → प्रोक्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, Past passive participle (क्त)

• लोकानाम्: of the worlds/people
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• प्रभवाप्ययः: origin and dissolution
• प्रभवाप्ययः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रभव-अप्यय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

अर्जुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna
• Aniruddha
• Lokāḥ (the worlds)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse identifies the supreme divine principle as the ultimate source and end of all worlds—creation and dissolution occur through him. By calling him Aniruddha (‘unobstructed’), it emphasizes an irresistible, all-pervading sovereignty in which ritual (tapas, yajña) and the agent of ritual ultimately culminate.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna speaks in a devotional-philosophical register, praising and defining the deity by cosmic functions—origin and dissolution of the worlds—thereby framing the discussion in Śānti Parva around ultimate reality and the grounding of dharma in the supreme being.