Shloka 57
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
अम्भोधरान् समुद्रांश्ष सरांसि सरितस्तथा । मूर्तिमन्तः पितृगणांश्षतुर: पश्य सत्तम
ambhodharān samudrāṁś ca sarāṁsi saritas tathā | mūrtimantaḥ pitṛgaṇāṁś caturaḥ paśya sattama, sādhūśiromaṇe |
Bhīṣma dit : «Ô le meilleur des bons, le premier des vertueux : vois en moi les formes incarnées des nuages porteurs de pluie, des océans, des lacs et des rivières. Vois aussi les quatre classes de Pitṛ (êtres ancestraux), manifestées ici avec un corps.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a vision of the cosmos and ancestral orders as present within a single sacred locus, emphasizing interconnectedness: natural forces (clouds, oceans, rivers) and the Pitṛs are not separate from the deeper reality being revealed. Ethically, it reinforces reverence—toward nature and toward ancestors—as integral to dharma.
Bhishma addresses a virtuous listener and invites them to ‘see’ within him the manifested forms of major elements of the world—clouds, seas, lakes, rivers—and also the four classes of Pitṛs appearing bodily. The scene functions as a revelatory display meant to instruct and inspire awe and right conduct.