Shloka 40
Indrajit’s Binding, Restoration by Viśalyā, and Counsel Restraining Rāvaṇa (Āraṇyaka Parva 273)
तत्रासौ भगवान् देव: स्वपज्जलनिधौ तदा । नैशेन तमसा व्याप्तां स्वां रात्रिं कुरुते विभु:
tatrāsau bhagavān devaḥ svapaj-jalanidhau tadā | naiśena tamasā vyāptāṁ svāṁ rātriṁ kurute vibhuḥ ||
There, that blessed divine Lord then lies upon the ocean of waters; the mighty one brings to pass His own night, pervaded by nocturnal darkness.
भीमसेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores divine governance of cosmic rhythms: night and darkness are not chaotic forces but part of an ordered cycle sustained by the Lord. Ethically, it encourages steadiness—accepting phases of obscurity or hardship as temporary and meaningful within a larger order.
Bhīma describes the Lord in cosmic imagery—reclining upon the ocean and bringing about the night covered in darkness—using a mythic-cosmological picture to emphasize the Lord’s power and the regulated unfolding of time.