Shloka 8
Kṛṣṇa’s Dhyāna and the Prompt to Question Bhīṣma (कृष्णध्यानं भीष्मप्रश्नप्रेरणा च)
त्वं हि कर्ता विकर्ता च क्षरं चैवाक्षरं च हि । अनादिनिधनश्चाद्यस्त्वमेव पुरुषोत्तम,पुरुषोत्तम! आप ही इस जगत्को बनाने और विलीन करनेवाले हैं। आप ही क्षर और अक्षर पुरुष हैं। आपका न आदि है और न अन्त। आप ही सबके आदि कारण हैं
tvaṁ hi kartā vikartā ca kṣaraṁ caivākṣaraṁ ca hi | anādinidhanaścādyas tvam eva puruṣottama puruṣottama ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: You alone are the maker and the unmaker of this world. You are both the perishable and the imperishable principle. Without beginning and without end, you are the primal source of all—O Puruṣottama, highest of persons.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse affirms a single supreme reality as both the source and the dissolution of the cosmos, encompassing the mutable (kṣara) and the immutable (akṣara). Ethically, it frames dharma as grounded in a transcendent order: human action should align with the ultimate source rather than ego or mere circumstance.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction setting after the war, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses the Supreme (Puruṣottama) in reverent praise, acknowledging divine sovereignty over creation and dissolution and seeking a stable foundation for understanding duty and peace.