Shloka 21
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
पादौ तस्य महीं विद्धि मूर्धानं दिवमित्युत । बाहवस्तु दिशो दैत्य श्रोत्रमाकाशमेव च
pādau tasya mahīṃ viddhi mūrdhānaṃ divam ity uta | bāhavas tu diśo daitya śrotram ākāśam eva ca ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Ô Daitya, sache que la terre est Ses deux pieds, et que le ciel est Sa tête. Les directions sont Ses bras, et l’espace même est Son oreille.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a vision of the Lord as the cosmic Person: earth, heaven, directions, and sky are His limbs and senses. Ethically, this cultivates humility and dharmic restraint—one should act with care and reverence, recognizing the world as sacred and pervaded by the Divine.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs the listener (addressed here as “Daitya”) by describing Vishnu’s universal form through cosmic correspondences—identifying elements of the world with the Lord’s body—so the listener may grasp the all-pervading nature of the Supreme.