Shloka 73
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
गायन्ति त्वा गायत्रिणोड<र्चन्त्यर्क्मर्किण: । ब्रह्माणं त्वा शतक्रतुमूर्ध्य खमिव मेनिरे
gāyanti tvā gāyatriṇo 'rcanty arkam arkiṇaḥ | brahmāṇaṃ tvā śatakratum ūrdhvaṃ kham iva menire ||
Bhīṣma said: “The chanters of the Gāyatrī hymn sing of you; the worshippers of the Sun praise you with solar hymns. They regard you as Brahmā himself, and as Śatakratu (Indra) they conceive you to be exalted aloft—like the high vault of heaven.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a theological vision in which the praised figure is understood through multiple Vedic lenses—Gāyatrī recitation, solar worship, and identification with major deities (Brahmā and Indra). Ethically, it underscores reverence for the divine as the sustaining cosmic principle, approached through diverse but converging forms of worship.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma continues instructing and praising the supreme object of devotion being discussed in the discourse. He describes how different classes of ritualists and hymnists honor that being—some through Gāyatrī chanting, others through solar hymns—while conceiving the same reality as Brahmā and as Indra, exalted like the sky.