Shloka 34
अध्याय २०८ — इन्द्रियनिग्रहः, सत्याहिंसात्मकवाक्, कर्मफलविवेकः
Restraint of the Senses, Non-harming Truthful Speech, and Discernment of Karmic Consequence
जमदमन्निश्व सप्तैते उदीचीमाश्रिता दिशम् | आत्रेय, वसिष्ठ, महर्षि कश्यप, गौतम, भरद्वाज, कुशिकवंशी विश्वामित्र तथा महात्मा ऋचीकके पुत्र भगवान् जमदग्नि--ये सात उत्तर दिशामें रहते हैं ।। एते प्रतिदिशं सर्वे कीर्तितास्तिग्मतेजस:,इस प्रकार प्रत्येक दिशामें रहनेवाले सम्पूर्ण तेजस्वी महर्षियोंका वर्णन किया गया। ये महात्मा सम्पूर्ण लोकोंकी सृष्टि करनेमें समर्थ एवं सबके साक्षी हैं। इनका हृदय बड़ा विशाल है। इस तरह ये प्रत्येक दिशामें निवास करते हैं
jamadagnir eva saptaite udīcīm āśritā diśam | ātreyo vasiṣṭho maharṣiḥ kaśyapo gautamo bharadvājaḥ | kuśikavaṃśī viśvāmitras tathā mahātmā ṛcīkasya putro bhagavān jamadagniḥ—ime sapta uttaradiśi nivasantīti || ete pratidīśaṃ sarve kīrtitās tigmatejasaḥ | lokasṛṣṭisamarthāś ca sarvasākṣiṇa eva ca | vipulahṛdayāś caite pratidikṣu vyavasthitāḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “These seven—Jamadagni and the others—are established in the northern quarter: Ātreya, Vasiṣṭha, the great sage Kaśyapa, Gautama, Bharadvāja, Viśvāmitra of the Kuśika lineage, and the venerable Jamadagni, the blessed son of Ṛcīka. Thus, in each direction, all the sages of blazing spiritual power have been enumerated. These great souls are capable of bringing forth the worlds, stand as witnesses of all, and possess vast hearts; in this manner they abide in their respective quarters.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents revered sages as guardians of cosmic order: they are ‘witnesses of all’ and possess vast-heartedness, implying that spiritual authority rests on inner radiance, impartial observation, and magnanimity—qualities that sustain dharma across the world.
Bhīṣma is cataloguing great ṛṣis assigned to the quarters of space. Here he identifies the seven sages associated with the northern direction and concludes that similarly radiant sages are established in every direction, functioning as world-sustaining witnesses.