Shloka 25
अध्याय ३३७ — ज्ञानमार्ग-वैविध्यप्रश्नः तथा व्यासस्य नारायणोद्भवकथा
Systems of Knowledge and Vyāsa’s Nārāyaṇa-Origin
कथं पश्येम हि वयं देवं नारायणं त्विति । अथ व्रतस्यावभूथे वागुवाचाशरीरिणी
kathaṁ paśyema hi vayaṁ devaṁ nārāyaṇaṁ tv iti | atha vratasya avabhūthe vāg uvāca aśarīriṇī ||
Bhīṣma said: “How indeed can we behold the god Nārāyaṇa?” When the vow had reached its concluding rite—the ceremonial bath that marks completion—a bodiless voice spoke.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the human limitation in directly perceiving the supreme (Nārāyaṇa) and suggests that divine revelation often comes through grace, especially at moments of ritual and moral culmination—here, the completion of a vow marked by the avabhṛtha.
A question is raised—how they might behold Nārāyaṇa. Immediately after, at the concluding rite of the vow (avabhṛtha), a disembodied voice speaks, indicating a divine or supernatural response to the seekers’ longing.