Shloka 118

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

देवदेवेश्वर! जरायुज, अण्डज, स्वेदज तथा उद्धिज्ज--ये चार प्रकारके प्राणिसमूह आप ही हैं ।।

Transliteration

devadeveśvara! jarāyuja, aṇḍaja, svedaja tathā udbhijja—ye caturvidhāḥ prāṇisaṃghāḥ tvam eva. carācarasya sraṣṭā tvaṃ pratihartā tathaiva ca. tvām āhur brahmaviduṣo brahma brahmavidāṃ vara.

Translation

Dijo Bhīṣma: «¡Oh Señor supremo, Soberano de los dioses! Todos los seres—los nacidos del vientre, los nacidos del huevo, los surgidos del sudor o la humedad, y los que brotan de la tierra—en esencia están en Ti y de Ti dependen. Tú eres el creador de todo lo móvil y lo inmóvil, y también quien lo retira cuando llega la disolución. Por eso, los conocedores de Brahman te llaman “Brahman” mismo, la realidad suprema, y te honran como el más excelso entre quienes conocen lo Absoluto.»

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'devadeveśvara', 'definition': 'Lord of the lords (of gods)

• supreme divine ruler'}, {'term': 'jarāyuja', 'definition': 'womb-born beings (mammals, etc.)'}, {'term': 'aṇḍaja', 'definition': 'egg-born beings (birds, reptiles, etc.)'}, {'term': 'svedaja', 'definition': 'moisture/sweat-born beings

• organisms arising from dampness (traditional category)'}, {'term': 'udbhijja', 'definition': 'sprout-born beings

• plants/vegetation arising from the earth'}, {'term': 'prāṇisaṃgha', 'definition': 'multitude/assemblage of living beings'}, {'term': 'carācara', 'definition': 'the moving and the unmoving

• all existence'}, {'term': 'sraṣṭā', 'definition': 'creator'}, {'term': 'pratihartā', 'definition': 'withdrawer/destroyer

• one who brings about dissolution'}, {'term': 'brahmavid', 'definition': 'knower of Brahman (the Absolute)'}, {'term': 'brahma', 'definition': 'Brahman

• the supreme, ultimate reality'}, {'term': 'brahmavidāṃ vara', 'definition': 'best among the knowers of Brahman'}]

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Devadeveshvara (the Supreme Lord / Brahman)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches the Lord’s all-encompassing sovereignty: all categories of living beings and the entire moving–unmoving cosmos depend on Him, and He alone is both the source (creation) and the end (dissolution). Hence, the highest spiritual authorities identify Him with Brahman, the ultimate reality.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction-setting, Bhishma—speaking from his bed of arrows—offers a hymn-like affirmation of the Supreme, addressing Him directly and describing His cosmic functions and identity as Brahman, thereby grounding ethical and dharmic teaching in a theological-metaphysical vision.