Shloka 21
स देवानां मानुषाणां पितृणां तमेवाहुर्यज्ञविदां वितानम् । स एव काल॑ विभजन्नुदेति तस्योत्तरं दक्षिणं चायने द्वे
sa devānāṁ mānuṣāṇāṁ pitṝṇāṁ tam evāhur yajñavidāṁ vitānam | sa eva kālaṁ vibhajann udeti tasyottaraṁ dakṣiṇaṁ cāyane dve ||
Bhishma said: He alone is proclaimed to be the very Self of the gods, of human beings, and of the ancestors. The knowers of sacrifice call Him the true expanse and ordering principle of the yajña. It is He who, dividing time, rises as the Sun; and the two courses—uttarāyaṇa and dakṣiṇāyaṇa—are His two paths.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the unity of the Supreme with the entire cosmic and moral order: the same Reality is the inner Self of gods, humans, and ancestors, the principle underlying sacrifice, and the regulator of time as the sun’s course. Dharma and ritual gain depth when seen as participation in that single, all-pervading order.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma continues his instruction to Yudhishthira on dharma and higher truths. Here he identifies the Supreme (understood in context as Śrī Kṛṣṇa/Nārāyaṇa) as the foundation of yajña and as the cosmic regulator manifesting through time and the sun’s two annual courses, uttarāyaṇa and dakṣiṇāyaṇa.