Shloka 116
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
संहृत्य सर्व निजदेहसंस्थं कृत्वाप्सु शेते जगदन्तरात्मा,नरदेव! यह मैंने तुमसे सांख्यका तत्त्व बतलाया है। इस पुरातन विश्वके रूपमें साक्षात् भगवान् नारायण ही सर्वत्र विराजमान हैं। वे ही सृष्टिकि समय जगत्की सृष्टि और संहारकालमें उसको अपनेमें विलीन कर लेते हैं। इस प्रकार जगत्को अपने शरीरके भीतर ही स्थापित करके वे जगतके अन्तरात्मा भगवान् नारायण एकार्णवके जलमें शयन करते हैं
saṁhṛtya sarvaṁ nijadehasaṁsthaṁ kṛtvāpsu śete jagadantarātmā | naradeva! yad mayā te sāṅkhyasya tattvaṁ prakāśitam | asmin purātane viśvarūpe sākṣād bhagavān nārāyaṇa eva sarvatrādhitiṣṭhati | sa eva sṛṣṭikāle jagataḥ sṛṣṭiṁ karoti saṁhārakāle ca tad ātmany eva līnayati | evaṁ jagat svadehābhyantare nidhāya sa jagadantarātmā bhagavān nārāyaṇa ekārṇave jale śete ||
Bhishma said: “Having withdrawn the entire universe and placed it within His own body, the Inner Self of the world lies upon the waters. O king among men, this is the Sāṅkhya truth I have explained to you: in this ancient form of the cosmos, it is Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa Himself who pervades and presides everywhere. At the time of creation He brings forth the world, and at the time of dissolution He draws it back and merges it into Himself. Thus, holding the universe within His own being, Nārāyaṇa—the indwelling Self of all—reclines upon the waters of the single cosmic ocean.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that Nārāyaṇa is the immanent Lord and inner Self of the universe: He creates the world, withdraws it at dissolution, contains it within Himself, and remains transcendent even while pervading all.
Bhishma, instructing the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) in Śānti Parva, summarizes a cosmological doctrine: at the end of a cosmic cycle the Lord absorbs the universe into His own body and reclines on the primeval waters (ekārṇava), awaiting the next creation.