Shloka 179

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

नाना प्रकारकी दक्षिणाओं वाले यज्ञोंद्वारा आपहीका यजन किया जाता है और आप ही सबके कर्ता हैं, इसीलिये मैंने आपको अलग निमन्त्रण नहीं दिया ।। अथवा मायया देव सूक्ष्मया तव मोहित: । एतस्मात्‌ कारणाद्‌ वापि तेन त्वं न निमन्त्रित:,अथवा देव! आपकी सूक्ष्म मायासे मैं मोहमें पड़ गया था, इस कारणसे भी मैंने आपको निमन्त्रण नहीं दिया

Transliteration

nānā-prakārakī-dakṣiṇā-vāle yajñair dvārā āpa-hī-kā yajana kiyā jātā hai, aura āpa hī sarveṣāṃ kartāḥ; tasmād ahaṃ tvām pṛthag nimantraṇaṃ na dattavān. athavā māyayā deva sūkṣmayā tava mohitaḥ; etasmāt kāraṇād vāpi tena tvaṃ na nimantritaḥ.

Translation

Bhishma said: “By sacrifices of many kinds, rich with gifts, it is you alone who are worshipped; and you are the doer behind all. Therefore I did not send you a separate invitation. Or else, O god, I may have been deluded by your subtle māyā; for that reason too you were not invited.”

Word by Word

• {'nānā-prakāra': 'of many kinds, various', 'dakṣiṇā': 'sacrificial fee

• gifts given to priests/participants', 'yajña': 'sacrifice

• ritual worship', 'yajana': 'worship, act of sacrificing to a deity', 'kartṛ': 'doer, agent, maker', 'tasmāt': 'therefore, for that reason', 'pṛthak': 'separately, distinct', 'nimantraṇa': 'invitation, summons', 'na dattavān': 'did not give (i.e., did not extend)', 'athavā': 'or else, alternatively', 'māyā': 'divine power of concealment/illusion

• wondrous agency', 'deva': 'god

• divine lord', 'sūkṣmā': 'subtle, imperceptible', 'mohitaḥ': 'deluded, bewildered', 'etasmāt kāraṇāt': 'from this cause, for this reason', 'vāpi': 'also, even', 'na nimantritaḥ': 'not invited'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Deva (the addressed deity)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma frames a moral-theological justification: the divine is already the recipient and inner agent of all sacrificial worship, so a separate invitation is unnecessary; yet he also accepts the possibility of personal error due to being deluded by the deity’s subtle māyā, modeling humility and accountability.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma addresses a deity directly, explaining why no distinct invitation was offered: either because all sacrifices already worship that deity as the ultimate doer, or because Bhishma himself was bewildered by the deity’s subtle power and thus failed to invite.