Shloka 127
आप ही द्वेष, इच्छा, राग, मोह, क्षमा, अक्षमा, व्यवसाय, धैर्य, लोभ, काम, क्रोध, जय तथा पराजय हैं ।। त्वं गदी त्वं शरी चापी खट्वाजी झर्झरी तथा । छेत्ता भेत्ता प्रहर्ता त्वं नेता मन्ता पिता मत:,आप गदा, बाण, धनुष, खाटका अंग तथा झर्झर नामक अस्त्र धारण करनेवाले हैं। आप छेदन, भेदन और प्रहार करनेवाले हैं। सत्पथपर ले जानेवाले, शुभका मनन करनेवाले तथा पिता माने गये हैं
tvam eva dveṣa icchā rāga mohaḥ kṣamā akṣamā vyavasāyo dhairyaṁ lobhaḥ kāmaḥ krodho jayaḥ parājayaś ca | tvaṁ gadī tvaṁ śarī cāpī khaṭvāṅgī jharjharī tathā | chettā bhettā prahartā tvaṁ netā mantā pitā mataḥ ||
Bhishma said: You yourself are hatred and desire; attachment and delusion; forbearance and unforbearance; resolve and steadfastness; greed, lust, and anger; victory and defeat. You are the wielder of the mace; you are the arrow and the bow; you bear the khaṭvāṅga and the weapon called jharjharī. You are the cutter, the splitter, and the striker; you are the guide who leads to the right path, the thinker who reflects on the good, and you are regarded as the father.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents an all-encompassing vision of the Divine: both opposing mental forces (hatred and forgiveness, resolve and greed) and the means of action (weapons, cutting and striking) are said to be ‘You’. Ethically, it implies that human conflict and moral struggle occur within a larger sacred order, and that one should seek right guidance (netā) and right reflection (mantā) to align action with dharma.
In Śānti Parva, Bhishma delivers teachings and praises the supreme principle/person he addresses. Here he speaks in the mode of a hymn, attributing to the Divine the full range of inner dispositions and outer instruments, emphasizing divine sovereignty over both psychological states and worldly outcomes like victory and defeat.