Shloka 10
Adhyāya 353 — Kathā-prāmāṇya (Authority of Transmission) and the Brāhmaṇa’s Ascetic Resolve
एको हुताशो बहुधा समिध्यते एक: सूर्यस्तपसो योनिरेका । एको वायुर्बहुधा वाति लोके महोदधिश्चाम्भसां योनिरेक: । पुरुषश्वैको निर्गुणो विश्वरूप- स््तं निर्गुणं पुरुषं चाविशन्ति
eko hutāśo bahudhā samidhyate, ekaḥ sūryas tapaso yonir ekā | eko vāyur bahudhā vāti loke, mahodadhiś cāmbhasāṁ yonir ekaḥ | puruṣaś caiko nirguṇo viśvarūpas, taṁ nirguṇaṁ puruṣaṁ cāviśanti |
Bhīṣma said: “Fire is one, yet it blazes in many ways when kindled by different fuels. The sun is one, and from it come the world’s heat and light. Austerity appears in many forms, yet its source is one. The wind is one, yet it moves through the world in diverse currents; and the ocean is one, the single womb and resting-place of all waters. In the same way, the attributeless Person is one—though appearing as the universe in countless forms—and into that same attributeless Person all beings ultimately enter.”
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
Multiplicity in the world is an expression of a single underlying reality: just as one fire, sun, wind, and ocean appear in many modes, so the one attributeless Purusha appears as the universe; ultimately, beings resolve back into that one source.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation, Bhīṣma addresses Yudhiṣṭhira and explains metaphysical unity through natural analogies, emphasizing the one Nirguṇa Purusha as the origin and final resting-place of all.