Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 15
शुकस्य मिथिलागमनम् (Śukasya Mithilāgamanam) — Śuka’s Journey to Mithilā and the Courtly Test
ह्ृदयं सर्वभूतानां पर्वणाड्गुष्ठमात्रक: । अथ ग्रसत्यनन्तो हि महात्मा विश्वमी श्वर:
hṛdayaṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ parvaṇāṅguṣṭhamātrakaḥ | atha grasaty ananto hi mahātmā viśvam īśvaraḥ ||
Yājñavalkya said: “In the hearts of all beings He abides, of the measure of a thumb-joint. Yet that very Infinite One—the great Self, the Lord of the universe—ultimately draws the whole cosmos into Himself.”
याज़्वल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Supreme is simultaneously immanent and transcendent: present within every being as the indwelling Self (described as thumb-sized in the heart) and also the Infinite Lord who ultimately absorbs all manifestation back into Himself. The ethical implication is reverence for all beings and inward discipline, since the same Lord abides within every heart.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation and ultimate reality, Yājñavalkya describes the nature of the Supreme Self: dwelling within all creatures and, at the end of cosmic process, reabsorbing the universe. The verse functions as a doctrinal statement within a larger teaching dialogue rather than a battlefield event.