Shloka 101
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
गर्भमांससूगालाय तारकाय तराय च । नमो यज्ञाय यजिने हुताय प्रहुताय च,आप फलके भीतरके गुद्देरूप मांसके प्रलोभी शृगालरूप हैं। आप ही सबको तारनेवाले तथा तरण-तारणके साधन हैं। आप ही यज्ञ और आप ही यजमान हैं। आप ही हुत (हवन) और आप ही प्रहुत (अग्नि) हैं। आपको नमस्कार है
garbhamāṃsaśṛgālāya tārakāya tarāya ca | namo yajñāya yajine hutāya prahutāya ca ||
Bhīṣma offers reverential salutation to the Supreme: the one whom embodied beings seek irresistibly, like a jackal drawn to flesh, for the sake of bodily life; and also the Deliverer and the very means of crossing beyond. He bows to that Reality as the sacrifice itself and the sacrificer, as the oblation offered (huta) and as the sacred fire into which it is offered (prahuta).
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the all-pervasiveness of the Supreme: the same Reality is the worship, the worshipper, the offering, and the fire—so ritual and moral action find their ultimate ground in the One, and liberation is attained by recognizing that One as both the goal (tāraka) and the means (tara).
In Shanti Parva’s instruction setting, Bhishma is speaking and offers a stuti (praise/salutation), identifying the divine principle through striking metaphors and through yajña-symbolism, as part of his broader teaching on dharma and the highest good.