Shloka 9
Brahmacarya-Upāya: Jñāna, Śauca, and the Mind’s Role in Desire (शान्ति पर्व, अध्याय २०७)
स सृष्ट्वा पृथिवीं चैव सर्वभूतेश्वर: प्रभु: । अप्स्वेव भवन चक्रे महात्मा पुरुषोत्तम:,सर्वभूतेश्वर, प्रभु, महात्मा पुरुषोत्तमने इस पृथ्वीकी सृष्टि करके जलमें ही अपना निवासस्थान बनाया
sa sṛṣṭvā pṛthivīṃ caiva sarvabhūteśvaraḥ prabhuḥ | apsv eva bhavanaṃ cakre mahātmā puruṣottamaḥ ||
Bhishma said: Having created the earth, the sovereign Lord of all beings—mighty, great-souled, the Supreme Person—made his dwelling in the waters.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes that creation is governed by a supreme, ethical sovereignty: the Lord creates the earth and then abides in the primordial waters, implying that the cosmos is sustained by an underlying divine order rather than by chance or mere human agency.
In Bhishma’s discourse in the Śānti Parva, he describes a cosmogonic sequence: after creating the earth, the Supreme Lord establishes his residence in the waters, a common Indic motif for the primordial state that supports and contains the created world.