Shloka 167
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
सम्भक्ष्य सर्वभूतानि युगान्ते पर्युपस्थिते । यः शेते जलमध्यस्थस्तं प्रपद्ये3म्बुशायिनम्
sambhakṣya sarvabhūtāni yugānte paryupasthite | yaḥ śete jalamadhyasthaḥ taṃ prapadye 'mbuśāyinam ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Quand vient la fin d’un âge et que tous les êtres sont consumés dans la dissolution, Lui qui repose au milieu des eaux—c’est en ce Seigneur, Celui qui gît sur les eaux cosmiques, que je cherche refuge.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches śaraṇāgati—seeking refuge in the Supreme Lord who remains sovereign even at cosmic dissolution. Ethical life and dharma are grounded in recognizing a stable, transcendent refuge beyond the rise and fall of worldly conditions.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction, Bhishma offers a devotional salutation: he invokes the Lord as Ambuśāyin, the deity who reclines upon the cosmic waters after consuming all beings at the yuga’s end, framing his discourse within a cosmic-theological vision.