Shloka 22
अध्याय २०८ — इन्द्रियनिग्रहः, सत्याहिंसात्मकवाक्, कर्मफलविवेकः
Restraint of the Senses, Non-harming Truthful Speech, and Discernment of Karmic Consequence
शीलयौवनतत्त्वन्यस्तथान्य: सिद्धसाध्ययो: । ऋतभवो मरुतश्वैव देवानां चोदितो गण:
śīla-yauvana-tattva-nyās tathā anyaḥ siddha-sādhyayoḥ | ṛbhavo marutaś caiva devānāṃ codito gaṇaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dijo: «Entre los dioses hay clases distintas. Una clase está asentada en la noble conducta y dotada de una juventud inagotable; otra está compuesta por los Siddhas y los Sādhyas. Los Ṛbhus y los Maruts también son nombrados como huestes divinas: compañías de dioses establecidas en las funciones que les han sido asignadas».
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ordered cosmos: divine beings are grouped by qualities and functions. Ethical excellence (śīla) and disciplined vitality (yauvana) are presented as defining traits of certain divine classes, implying that virtue and right disposition are foundational even in higher realms.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on broader principles of order and dharma. Here he enumerates categories of divine beings—Siddhas, Sādhyas, Ṛbhus, and Maruts—describing them as recognized hosts within the divine hierarchy.