Shloka 113
आप कामस्वरूप, कामनाओंको पूर्ण करनेवाले, कामदेवके नाशक, तृप्त और अतृप्तका विचार करनेवाले, सर्वस्वरूप, सब कुछ देनेवाले, सबके संहारक और संध्याकालके समान रंगवाले हैं। आपको प्रणाम है ।। महाबल महाबाहो महासत्त्व महाद्युते । महामेघचयप्रख्य महाकाल नमोस्तु ते,महाबल! महाबाहो! महासत्त्व! महाद्युते! आप महान् मेघोंकी घटाके समान रंगवाले महाकालस्वरूप हैं। आपको नमस्कार है
bhīṣma uvāca |
āpa kāmasvarūpaḥ kāmanāḥ pūrayitā kāmadevanāśakaḥ tṛptātṛptavivecakaḥ sarvasvarūpaḥ sarvadātā sarvasaṃhārakaḥ sandhyākālasamānarāgaḥ asi | te namaḥ ||
mahābala mahābāho mahāsattva mahādyute |
mahāmeghacayaprakhya mahākāla namo'stu te ||
Bhishma said: You are the very form of desire—one who fulfills all longings, yet also the destroyer of the god of desire. You discern the states of satisfaction and dissatisfaction; you are the form of all, the giver of all, and the dissolver of all. Your hue is like the twilight sky. I bow to you. O mighty one, O strong-armed one, O being of great essence, O of great radiance—O Mahākāla, dark like a mass of towering clouds—salutations to you.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents the supreme as both the source of desire and the power that overcomes and dissolves it. Ethically, it implies that dharmic life is not merely about suppressing impulses, but about recognizing a higher governance over desire—seeking fulfillment through alignment with the ultimate, and accepting dissolution (time/death) as part of cosmic order.
In the Śānti Parva setting, Bhishma is instructing and also offering praise. Here he utters a stuti (hymn) addressing the supreme as Mahākāla—depicting an all-giving, all-dissolving reality—thereby framing his teachings on peace, restraint, and right conduct within devotion to the highest principle.