Shloka 133
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
होत्रं होता च होम्यं च हुतं चैव तथा प्रभु: । त्रिसौपर्ण तथा ब्रह्म यजुषां शतरुद्रियम्,होत्र (खुवा), होता, हवनीय पदार्थ, हवन-क्रिया तथा (उसके फल देनेवाले) परमेश्वर भी आप ही हैं। वेदकी त्रिसौपर्ण नामक श्रुतियोंमें तथा यजुर्वेदके शतरुद्रिय-प्रकरणमें जो बहुत-से वैदिक नाम हैं, वे सब आपहीके नाम हैं
hotraṁ hotā ca homyaṁ ca hutaṁ caiva tathā prabhuḥ | trisauparṇa tathā brahma yajuṣāṁ śatarudriyam ||
Bhishma said: You alone are the hotra—the sacrificial office; you are the hotā—the priest who offers; you are the homya—the oblation worthy to be cast into the fire; and you are the huta—the offering already poured into the flame. You are also the Lord who grants the fruit of the rite. The Vedic designations found in the Tri-suparṇa hymns and in the Śatarudriya section of the Yajurveda are likewise names that, in the end, refer to you.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the entire sacrificial system—priestly roles, offerings, the act of offering, and the bestowal of results—ultimately rests in and points to the one supreme Lord. Therefore, ritual should be grounded in right understanding and devotion, not treated as an independent mechanism.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction, Bhishma continues a theological exposition to Yudhiṣṭhira, identifying the deity addressed as the inner reality of Vedic ritual and as the referent of many Vedic epithets, including those in the Tri-suparṇa recitations and the Śatarudriya of the Yajurveda.