Shloka 29

अध्यात्म-तत्त्व-निर्णयः

Adhyātma Taxonomy: Elements, Faculties, and Guṇas

Devanagari script

सर्वतःपाणिपादं तत्‌ सर्वतो$क्षिशिरोमुखम्‌ । सर्वतःश्रुतिमल्लोके सर्वमावृत्य तिष्ठतति

Transliteration

sarvataḥ-pāṇipādaṃ tat sarvato 'kṣi-śiro-mukham | sarvataḥ-śrutimal loke sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: That Supreme Reality has hands and feet on every side; eyes, heads, and faces on every side; and ears on every side in the world. Enveloping all beings and all directions, it stands pervading everything—teaching that the Self is not confined to any single form, but is the all-pervading ground of existence, before which narrow ego and partiality lose their force.

Word by Word

• {'sarvataḥ': 'on all sides

• everywhere', 'pāṇi': 'hand', 'pāda': 'foot', 'tat': 'that (Supreme Reality/Brahman/Paramātman)', 'sarvataḥ-akṣi': 'having eyes everywhere', 'śiras': 'head', 'mukha': 'face

• mouth', 'sarvataḥ-śruti-mat': 'possessing hearing/ears everywhere

• all-hearing', 'loke': 'in the world', 'sarvam': 'all

• everything', 'āvṛtya': 'having covered

• pervading', 'tiṣṭhati': 'stands

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• Paramātman (Supreme Self/Brahman)
• loka (the world)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches the omnipresence and all-pervading nature of the Supreme Self (Paramātman/Brahman): it is symbolically described as having hands, feet, eyes, heads, faces, and ears everywhere, meaning it is the underlying reality present in and through all beings and directions.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation and right understanding, Vyāsa speaks a contemplative description of the Supreme Reality, shifting the listener from a limited, body-bound view of self to a universal vision that supports equanimity and dharmic conduct.