Shloka 70
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
एषोऊहं व्यक्तिमागत्य तिष्ठामि दिवि शाश्वत: । ततो युगसहस्रान्ते संहरिष्ये जगत् पुन:,“इस समय मैं सनातन परमात्मा ही व्यक्तरूप धारण करके आकाशमें स्थित हूँ। फिर एक सहखस् चतुर्युग व्यतीत होनेपर मैं ही इस जगत्का संहार करूँगा
eṣo ’haṁ vyaktim āgatya tiṣṭhāmi divi śāśvataḥ | tato yuga-sahasrānte saṁhariṣye jagat punaḥ ||
Bhishma said: “I, the eternal Supreme Self, have now assumed a manifest form and abide in the heavens. Then, when a thousand yugas have reached their end, I shall again withdraw the world into dissolution.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents the Supreme as both manifest and transcendent, governing cosmic time: manifestation is temporary, and at the completion of immense cycles (a thousand yugas) the same divine principle reabsorbs the universe. Ethically, it relativizes worldly power and urges steadiness in dharma amid impermanence.
In Bhishma’s instruction during the Shanti Parva, he voices a doctrinal statement identifying the eternal divine presence as presently manifest and abiding in the heavens, and declaring that after a vast span of time the world will be dissolved again—framing human concerns within a larger cosmic order.