Shloka 11
Adhyāya 70: Sātyaki’s Arrow-Display and the Bhūriśravas Engagement; Twilight Withdrawal
अग्रजं सर्वभूतानां संकर्षणमकल्पयत् | तस्मान्नारायणो जज्ञे देवदेव: सनातन:
agrajaṁ sarvabhūtānāṁ saṅkarṣaṇam akalpayat | tasmān nārāyaṇo jajñe devadevaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
उस परमात्मा ने पहले समस्त भूतों के अग्रज संकर्षण को प्रकट किया; और उनसे सनातन देवाधिदेव नारायण का प्रादुर्भाव हुआ।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts a hierarchy of divine manifestation: the Supreme ordains Saṅkarṣaṇa as a primordial principle/elder, and from that arises Nārāyaṇa, the eternal Lord. Ethically, it grounds dharma in acknowledging a transcendent source of order beyond human power and conflict.
Bhīṣma is speaking in praise of the divine, describing a cosmogonic sequence of manifestation. The focus is not battlefield action but theological narration that elevates Nārāyaṇa’s eternal supremacy and frames events within a sacred cosmic order.