Shloka 24
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
“दानवप्रवर! सम्पूर्ण ग्रह उनकी दोनों भौंहोंके बीचमें स्थित हैं। नक्षत्रमण्डल नेत्रोंसे प्रकट हुआ है। दनुनन्दन! यह पृथ्वी उनके दोनों चरणोंमें स्थित है ।। (तं विद्धि भूत॑ विश्वादिं परम विद्धि चेश्वरम् ।) रजस्तमश्न सत्त्वं च विद्धि नारायणात्मकम् | सो55श्रमाणां फलं तात कर्मणस्तत् फलं विदु:,“उन्हें तुम सम्पूर्ण भूतस्वरूप, इस जगत्का आदिकारण और परमेश्वर समझो। रजोगुण, तमोगुण और सत्त्वगगुण--इन तीनोंको नारायणमय ही मानो। तात! समस्त आश्रमोंका फल वे ही हैं। विद्वान् पुरुष समस्त कर्माद्वारा प्राप्तव्य फल उन्हींको मानते हैं
dānavapravara! sampūrṇa-grahā ubhayor bhruvor madhye sthitāḥ | nakṣatra-maṇḍalaṃ netrābhyāṃ prakaṭaṃ bhavati | danunandana! iyaṃ pṛthivī ubhayor caraṇayoḥ sthitā || taṃ viddhi bhūta-viśvādīṃ paramaṃ viddhi ceśvaram | rajas tamaś ca sattvaṃ ca viddhi nārāyaṇātmakam | sa evāśramāṇāṃ phalaṃ tāta karmāṇāṃ tat phalaṃ viduḥ ||
Bhishma said: “O foremost of the Daityas! All the planets are stationed between His two eyebrows; the circle of the constellations shines forth from His eyes. O son of Danu, this earth rests upon His two feet. Know Him as the very form and origin of all beings, the first cause of the universe, and the supreme Lord. Understand rajas, tamas, and sattva—the three guṇas—as pervaded by Nārāyaṇa. Dear one, He alone is the fruit of all the āśramas; the wise know Him to be the final fruit attainable through every kind of action.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage teaches that Nārāyaṇa is the supreme Lord and the cosmic ground of all phenomena: even the planets, stars, and earth are envisioned as resting within His body. Ethically and spiritually, it asserts that the ultimate ‘fruit’ of all duties—across every āśrama and every kind of karma—is realization/attainment of Him, and that even the three guṇas are to be understood as pervaded by Nārāyaṇa.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma is teaching about the highest principle. Addressing a listener described as ‘foremost among the Dānavas’ and ‘son of Danu,’ he presents a cosmic-body description of the supreme deity and then draws the doctrinal conclusion: the Lord is the origin of the universe and the final goal of all disciplined life and action.