Shloka 166

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

यस्य केशेषु जीमूता नद्यः सर्वाड्डसंधिषु । कुक्षौ समुद्राश्चत्वारस्तस्मै तोयात्मने नम:,जिनके केशोंमें बादल, शरीरकी संधियोंमें नदियाँ और उदरमें चारों समुद्र हैं, उन जलस्वरूप परमात्माको नमस्कार है

Transliteration

yasya keśeṣu jīmūtā nadyaḥ sarvāḍḍa-sandhiṣu | kukṣau samudrāś catvāras tasmai toyātmane namaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dijo: Salutaciones al Ser Supremo cuya naturaleza misma es el agua: en cuyos cabellos moran las nubes de lluvia; en cuyas articulaciones y junturas fluyen todos los ríos; y en cuyo vientre reposan los cuatro grandes océanos.

Word by Word

यस्यof whom/whose

केशेषुin (his) hairs

जीमूताःclouds

नद्यःrivers

सर्वासुin all

सन्धिषुin the joints/connections

कुक्षौin (his) belly/abdomen

समुद्राःoceans

चत्वारःfour

तस्मैto him

तोयात्मनेto the one whose essence is water / the water-natured Self

नमःsalutation

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

jīmūta (clouds)

nadī (rivers)

samudra (the four oceans)

toya-ātman (the water-essenced Supreme Self)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches a devotional and ethical vision in which water is not merely a resource but a manifestation of the Supreme. By seeing clouds, rivers, and oceans as limbs of the Divine, one is urged toward humility, gratitude, and dharmic care in relation to life-sustaining nature.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs and elevates the listener through dharma-oriented discourse and hymnic praise. Here he offers a stuti that identifies cosmic hydrological features—clouds, rivers, and the four oceans—as residing in the Divine body, concluding with a formal salutation.