Shloka 108
आप वर्ण और आश्रमोंके भिन्न-भिन्न कर्मोंका विधिवत् विभाग करनेवाले, जपनीय मन्त्ररूप, घोषस्वरूप तथा कोलाहलमय हैं। आपको बारंबार नमस्कार है ।। श्वेतपिड्नलनेत्राय कृष्णरक्तेक्षणाय च । प्राणभग्नाय दण्डाय स्फोटनाय कृशाय च,आपके नेत्र श्वेत पिड़लवर्णके हैं, काले और लाल रंगके हैं। आप प्राणवायु (श्वास)को जीतनेवाले, दण्ड (आयुध) रूप, ब्रह्माण्डरूपी घटको फोड़नेवाले तथा कृश-शरीरधारी हैं। आपको नमस्कार है
varṇa-āśramāṇāṁ bhinna-bhinna-karmāṇāṁ vidhivad vibhāga-kartre, japanīya-mantra-rūpāya, ghoṣa-svarūpāya, kolāhala-mayāya te punaḥ punaḥ namaḥ || śveta-piṅgala-netrāya kṛṣṇa-rakta-īkṣaṇāya ca | prāṇa-bhagnāya daṇḍāya sphoṭanāya kṛśāya ca, te namaḥ ||
Bhishma offers repeated salutations to a formidable divine power who, in due rule, apportions the distinct duties of the varnas and the ashramas; who is invoked by sacred recitation (japa); and whose very presence is like a resounding cry and tumult. He further salutes that being whose eyes appear in contrasting hues—whitish-tawny, dark, and red—who has mastered prana, the vital breath; who stands as daṇḍa, the rod and weapon of chastisement; who can shatter the cosmic vessel itself; and who is lean-bodied.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises a cosmic authority who properly assigns differentiated duties (karma) within varṇa and āśrama, implying that social-ethical order is not arbitrary but grounded in rule (vidhi) and upheld by a power that also disciplines (daṇḍa). It links dharma with disciplined practice—mantra-recitation and mastery of prāṇa—showing that order, austerity, and reverent invocation belong together.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction setting, Bhīṣma speaks in a devotional register, offering repeated salutations (namaḥ) to a fierce, all-pervading divine principle. He describes that being through striking epithets—sound-like, tumultuous, mantra-embodied, breath-conquering, rod-like, and world-shattering—conveying both reverence and fear before the power that sustains and enforces dharma.