Shloka 36
Devaśarmā–Vipula Dialogue on Ahorātra–Ṛtu as Moral Witnesses (अनुशासन पर्व, अध्याय ४३)
मक्षिकामशकादीनां वपुर्धारयतेडपि च । न शक््यमस्य ग्रहणं कर्तु विपुल केनचित्
makṣikāmaśakādīnāṁ vapur dhārayate ’pi ca | na śakyam asya grahaṇaṁ kartuṁ vipula kenacit ||
Bhishma said: “He can even assume the bodies of flies, mosquitoes, and the like. O Vipula, no one is able to seize or restrain him. What then of others? Even the Creator himself cannot bring him under control. When he vanishes from sight, he is perceived only through the eye of knowledge.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse stresses the limits of physical power and coercion: a being endowed with extraordinary yogic or divine capacity can evade capture by taking subtle forms or disappearing, and can be known only through higher discernment (jñāna), not mere sensory grasping.
Bhishma addresses Vipula and describes an elusive figure whose powers include assuming tiny forms (like insects) and becoming invisible, making him impossible to restrain; recognition of such a being depends on inner knowledge rather than outward sight.