Shloka 113
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
आप कामस्वरूप, कामनाओंको पूर्ण करनेवाले, कामदेवके नाशक, तृप्त और अतृप्तका विचार करनेवाले, सर्वस्वरूप, सब कुछ देनेवाले, सबके संहारक और संध्याकालके समान रंगवाले हैं। आपको प्रणाम है ।।
bhīṣma uvāca |
āpa kāmasvarūpaḥ kāmanāḥ pūrayitā kāmadevanāśakaḥ tṛptātṛptavivecakaḥ sarvasvarūpaḥ sarvadātā sarvasaṃhārakaḥ sandhyākālasamānarāgaḥ asi | te namaḥ ||
mahābala mahābāho mahāsattva mahādyute |
mahāmeghacayaprakhya mahākāla namo'stu te ||
Bhishma dit : Tu es la forme même du désir — celui qui accomplit toutes les aspirations, et pourtant le destructeur du dieu du désir. Tu discernes la satiété et l’insatiété ; tu es la forme de tout, le donateur de tout et le dissolvant de tout. Ta teinte est celle du ciel au crépuscule. Je me prosterne devant toi. Ô puissant, ô aux bras vigoureux, ô d’essence immense, ô de grande splendeur — ô Mahākāla, sombre comme un amas de nuées grandioses — salutations à toi.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents the supreme as both the source of desire and the power that overcomes and dissolves it. Ethically, it implies that dharmic life is not merely about suppressing impulses, but about recognizing a higher governance over desire—seeking fulfillment through alignment with the ultimate, and accepting dissolution (time/death) as part of cosmic order.
In the Śānti Parva setting, Bhishma is instructing and also offering praise. Here he utters a stuti (hymn) addressing the supreme as Mahākāla—depicting an all-giving, all-dissolving reality—thereby framing his teachings on peace, restraint, and right conduct within devotion to the highest principle.