Shloka 156

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

अमृतपास्त्वं जगन्नाथ देवदेव गणेश्वर: । विषाग्निपा मृत्युपाश्च क्षीरपा: सोमपास्तथा । मधुधश्न्युतानामग्रपास्त्वमेव तुषिताद्यपा:

Transliteration

amṛtapāstvam jagannātha devadeva gaṇeśvaraḥ | viṣāgnipā mṛtyupāś ca kṣīrapāḥ somapās tathā | madhudhaśnyutānām agrapās tvam eva tuṣitādyapāḥ, devādhideva jagannātha |

Translation

ભીષ્મ બોલ્યા— હે જગન્નાથ, દેવદેવ, ગણેશ્વર! તમે અમૃતપાન કરનાર છો. વિષ, અગ્નિ અને મૃત્યુના પાશથી રક્ષા કરનાર તમે જ; તમે ક્ષીર અને સોમનું પણ પાન કરો છો. સુખથી ભ્રષ્ટ થયેલા જીવો માટે તમે જ અગ્ર આશ્રય; અને તુષિતાદિ દેવો તથા આદિપ્રજાપતિ (બ્રહ્મા)નું પણ પાલન તમે જ કરો છો.

Word by Word

• अमृतपाः: drinker of nectar
• अमृतपाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अमृतपा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• त्वम्: you
• त्वम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Nominative, Singular

• जगन्नाथ: O Lord of the world
• जगन्नाथ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: जगन्नाथ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• देवदेव: O god of gods
• देवदेव: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: देवदेव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• गणेश्वरः: lord of the hosts (gaṇas)
• गणेश्वरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गणेश्वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• विषाग्निपाः: protector from poison and fire
• विषाग्निपाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: विषाग्निपा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मृत्युपाः: protector from death
• मृत्युपाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृत्युपा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• च: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च
• Form: —, —, —

• क्षीरपाः: drinker of milk
• क्षीरपाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षीरपा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सोमपाः: drinker of Soma
• सोमपाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सोमपा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तथा: likewise/also
• तथा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा
• Form: —, —, —

• मधुधश्न्युतानाम्: of those fallen from sweetness/pleasure (i.e., deprived of bliss)
• मधुधश्न्युतानाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मधुधश्न्युत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter (genitive plural as stem-class dependent), Genitive, Plural

• अग्रपाः: foremost protector/guardian
• अग्रपाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्रपा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• त्वम्: you
• त्वम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Nominative, Singular

• एव: indeed/alone
• एव: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव
• Form: —, —, —

• तुषिताद्यपाः: protector of (the gods) beginning with the Tuṣitas
• तुषिताद्यपाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: तुषिताद्यपा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Jagannātha (the Supreme Lord)
• Devadeva
• Gaṇeśvara
• Amṛta
• Viṣa (poison)
• Agni (fire)
• Mṛtyu (death)
• Kṣīra (milk)
• Soma
• Tuṣita devas
• Brahmā (implied by 'ādi' progenitor in the supplied Hindi gloss)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that the highest dharma is reliance on the Supreme Protector who sustains the cosmos: the Lord is portrayed as the source of immortality and the guardian who wards off poison, fire, and death, making devotion and surrender a stabilizing ethical orientation amid human vulnerability.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma after the war; here he offers a hymn of praise, enumerating divine epithets to emphasize the Lord’s universal sovereignty and protective power over gods and afflicted beings alike.