Shloka 172
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
ये नदीषु समुद्रेषु पर्वतेषु गुहासु च । वृक्षमूलेषु गोछ्ठेषु कान्तारे गहनेषु च,नदी, समुद्र, पर्वत, गुहा, वृक्षोंकी जड़, गोशाला, दुर्गण पथ, वन, चौराहे, सड़क, चौतरे, किनारे, हस्तिशाला, अश्वशाला, रथशाला, पुराने बगीचे, जीर्ण गृह, पञ्चभूत, दिशा, विदिशा, चन्द्रमा, सूर्य तथा उन-उनकी किरणोंमें, रसातलमें और उससे भित्न स्थानोंमें भी जो अधिष्ठातृ देवताके रूपमें व्याप्त हैं, उन सबको सदा नमस्कार है, नमस्कार है, नमस्कार है
ye nadīṣu samudreṣu parvateṣu guhāsu ca | vṛkṣamūleṣu goṣṭheṣu kāntāre gahaneṣu ca ||
Bhīṣma said: Salutations ever to those presiding divine powers who pervade as guardians in rivers and oceans, on mountains and in caves, at the roots of trees, in cow-sheds, and in lonely, dense wilderness tracts. By acknowledging their presence in all places—natural, domestic, and remote—one cultivates reverence, restraint, and a dharmic awareness that the world is inhabited by sacred order.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
To cultivate constant reverence by recognizing presiding divine powers in all locations—natural and human—thereby strengthening humility, restraint, and dharmic conduct.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction in the Śānti Parva, he enumerates various places (rivers, oceans, mountains, caves, tree-roots, cow-sheds, wilderness) and offers salutations to the guardian deities believed to pervade them.