Shloka 33
स एवं चतुरो वर्णान् समुत्पाद्य महातपा: । अध्यक्ष॑ सर्वभूतानां धातारमकरोत् स्वयम्,इस प्रकार इन महातपस्वी श्रीहरिने चारों वर्णोको उत्पन्न करके स्वयं ही धाताको सम्पूर्ण भूतोंका अध्यक्ष बनाया
sa evaṁ caturo varṇān samutpādya mahātapāḥ | adhyakṣaṁ sarvabhūtānāṁ dhātāram akarot svayam ||
Bhīṣma said: Thus that great ascetic Lord, having brought forth the four social orders, Himself appointed Dhātṛ as the overseer of all beings.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents creation as structured and supervised: the four varṇas arise as part of an intended social order, and a cosmic ‘overseer’ (Dhātṛ) is appointed to govern beings. Ethically, it frames dharma as alignment with an ordered universe—responsibility, role, and governance are portrayed as divinely instituted to prevent chaos.
In Bhishma’s discourse in the Śānti Parva, he describes how the Lord (understood here as Śrīhari) created the four varṇas and then personally installed Dhātṛ as the superintendent of all creatures, depicting a hierarchical administration of the world after creation.