Shloka 38

Devanagari script

एकैकस्य प्रभा तादूुकू साभवन्मानवस्य ह । “उनके मनकी इस एकाग्रतासे भगवान्‌ श्रीहरि प्रसन्न होते थे। मुनिश्रेष्ठ! प्रलयकालमें सूर्यकी जैसी प्रभा होती है, वैसी ही उस द्वीपमें रहनेवाले प्रत्येक पुरुषकी थी ।। तेजोनिवास: स द्वीप इति वै मेनिरे वयम्‌

Transliteration

ekaikasya prabhā tādṛśī sābhavan mānavasya ha | teṣāṁ manasaḥ ekāgratāyā bhagavān śrīhariḥ prasanno bhavati | muniśreṣṭha! pralayakāle sūryasya yā prabhā bhavati, tādṛśī eva tasmin dvīpe nivāsinaḥ pratyekasya puruṣasya āsīt || tejonivāsaḥ sa dvīpa iti vai me nire vayam |

Translation

Bhishma said: “Each man there possessed a radiance of that very kind. Because of the one-pointed steadiness of their minds, Lord Śrī Hari was pleased with them. O best of sages, just as the sun blazes at the time of cosmic dissolution, so too was the splendor of every person dwelling on that island. Therefore we understood that island to be a ‘dwelling-place of light’—a realm where inner discipline and devotion manifest outwardly as brilliance.”

Word by Word

एकैकस्यof each (one by one)

प्रभाsplendour, radiance

तादृशीsuch, of that kind

अभवत्was, became

मानवस्यof the man, of a human

हindeed, surely (emphasis)

तेजः-निवासःabode of radiance

सःthat, he/it

द्वीपःisland, continent

इतिthus, as (quotation marker)

वैindeed, certainly

मेनिरेthey thought, they considered

वयम्we

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Śrī Hari (Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa)

muniśreṣṭha (addressed sage)

sūrya (the Sun)

dvīpa (the island/realm)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Single-pointed concentration (ekāgratā) and steady inner discipline are presented as qualities that please Śrī Hari; such devotion is not merely internal but is said to manifest as tejas—an outward radiance symbolizing spiritual power and purity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes a particular dvīpa (realm/island) whose inhabitants each shine with sun-like brilliance, likened to the sun at pralaya. He explains this extraordinary radiance as the result of their focused minds and the Lord’s favor, hence the place is remembered as a ‘tejonivāsa,’ an abode of light.