Shloka 3
Makara-vyūha and Krauñca-prativyūha at Sunrise (मकरव्यूहः क्रौञ्चप्रतिव्यूहश्च)
भूतं भव्यं भविष्यं च मार्कण्डेयो5भ्युवाच ह । यज्ञं त्वां चैव यज्ञानां तपक्ष॒ तपसामपि
bhūtaṃ bhavyaṃ bhaviṣyaṃ ca mārkaṇḍeyo 'bhyuvāca ha | yajñaṃ tvāṃ caiva yajñānāṃ tapaḥ tapaḥ tapasām api ||
Bhīṣma said: “Mārkaṇḍeya has indeed proclaimed you as the embodiment of the past, the present, and the future. He also declares you to be the very sacrifice among sacrifices, and the essential austerity—the heart of all austerities.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents the praised figure as the all-encompassing ground of reality—time itself (past, present, future)—and as the inner essence of religious practice: the highest sacrifice among sacrifices and the quintessential austerity among austerities. Ethically, it elevates inner consecration and disciplined devotion as the heart of dharma, beyond mere external ritual.
Bhīṣma, speaking in the Bhīṣma Parva, cites the authority of the sage Mārkaṇḍeya to magnify the greatness of the addressed figure. He reports Mārkaṇḍeya’s declarations, framing the subject as cosmic in scope and as the supreme principle behind yajña (ritual duty) and tapas (self-discipline).