Shloka 130
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
आदिद्नान्तश्न देवानां गायत्रयोंकार एव च | हरितो रोहितो नील: कृष्णो रक्तस्तथारुण: । कद्रुश्न कपिलश्चैव कपोतो मेचकस्तथा
ādir anto ’ś ca devānāṃ gāyatrī oṃkāra eva ca | harito rohito nīlaḥ kṛṣṇo raktaḥ tathāruṇaḥ | kadruḥ kapilaś caiva kapoto mecakas tathā ||
Bhīṣma dit : « Tu es le commencement et la fin des dieux. Toi seul es la Gāyatrī et la syllabe sacrée Oṃ. Vert, rouge, bleu, noir, rouge sang, rouge de l’aurore, fauve, brun doré, gris de colombe et sombre comme un nuage : ces dix teintes aussi ne sont que des formes de Toi. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a non-dual, all-pervading vision of the Divine: the Supreme is both the source and the end of all gods, is present as the most sacred Vedic utterances (Gāyatrī and Oṃ), and manifests even as the diversity of colors in the world—inviting reverence toward the whole of reality as sacred.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and higher spiritual truths. Here he is in the midst of a praise/identification of the Supreme principle, describing how the Divine encompasses Vedic mantras and the visible spectrum of creation.