Shloka 18
सत्य–अनृत, प्रकाश–तमस्, स्वर्ग–नरक विवेचनम्
Truth and Untruth as Light and Darkness; Svarga and Naraka as Ethical Consequences
पर्वत उनकी हड्डियाँ हैं, पृथ्वी उनका मेद और मांस है। समुद्र उनका रुधिर है और आकाश उदर है ।। पवनश्चैव निः:श्वासस्तेजो 5ग्निर्निम्नगा: शिरा: । अग्नीषोमोौ तु चन्द्रार्कों नयने तस्य विश्रुते,वायु नि:श्वास है, अग्नि तेज है, नदियाँ नाड़ियाँ हैं, सूर्य और चन्द्रमा जिन्हें अग्नि और सोम भी कहते हैं, ब्रह्माजीके नेत्रोंके रूपमें प्रसिद्ध हैं
parvatā asya asthīni, pṛthivī meda-māṃse; samudrāḥ rudhiraṃ, ākāśaṃ udaram. pavanaś caiva niḥśvāsaḥ, tejo 'gnir, nimnagāḥ śirāḥ; agnīṣomau tu candrārkau, nayane tasya viśrute.
The wind is his breath; fire is his radiance; the rivers are his veins. The sun and the moon—also spoken of as Agni and Soma—are renowned as Brahmā’s two eyes.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a vision of the universe as a single sacred body: natural features and cosmic forces correspond to limbs and functions of the cosmic Person. Ethically, it encourages reverence toward the world and recognition of underlying unity rather than fragmentation.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on higher knowledge and dharma after the war. Here he uses a cosmic-body metaphor to explain how the elements and celestial powers are integrated within the universal form (often associated with Brahmā or the cosmic Person).