Shloka 144
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
आप ही शिसल्पियोंमें सर्वश्रेष्ठ शिल्पी (कारीगर) तथा सब प्रकारकी शिल्पकलाके प्रवर्तवक हैं। आप भगदेवताकी आँख फोड़नेके लिये अंकुश, चण्ड (अत्यन्त कोप करनेवाले) और पूषाके दाँत नष्ट करनेवाले हैं ।। स्वाहा स्वथा वषट्कारो नमस्कारो नमो नमः । गूढव्रतो गुह्दतपास्तारकस्तारकामय:,स्वाहा, स्वधा, वषट्ू-नमस्कार और नमो नम: आदि पद आपके ही नाम हैं। आप गूढ़ व्रतधारी, गुप्त तपस्या करनेवाले, तारकमन्त्र और ताराओंसे भरे हुए आकाश हैं
āpa hī śilpibhiḥ sarvaśreṣṭhaḥ śilpī (kārīgaraḥ) tathā sarvaprakārāyāḥ śilpakalāyāḥ pravartakaḥ asi | tvaṃ bhagadevatāyāḥ akṣi-bhedanārthaṃ aṅkuśaḥ, caṇḍaḥ (atyanta-kopa-yuktaḥ), pūṣṇaḥ danta-nāśakaś ca || svāhā svadhā vaṣaṭkāro namaskāro namo namaḥ | gūḍhavrato guhyatapo tārakas tārakāmayaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: You yourself are the foremost among artisans and the originator of every kind of craft. You are the goad that struck out the eye of Bhaga; you are the fierce one; you are the power that shattered the teeth of Pūṣan. ‘Svāhā’, ‘Svadhā’, ‘Vaṣaṭ’, ‘Namaskāra’, and ‘Namo namaḥ’—these ritual utterances are also your names. You are the keeper of hidden vows, the performer of secret austerities, the saving mantra, and the star-filled sky.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the Supreme can be approached through many names and functions: as the source of human skills (crafts), as the power present in Vedic ritual utterances (svāhā, svadhā, vaṣaṭ), and as the inner discipline of hidden vows and secret austerity. Ethically, it emphasizes humility and order: divine power both grants capacities and restrains arrogance, guiding beings through reverence and self-control.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira and includes a hymn of praise describing the deity with multiple epithets. Here he identifies the deity as the supreme artisan and as the very sacrificial formulas, while recalling mythic acts involving Bhaga and Pūṣan to highlight the deity’s formidable, order-establishing power.