Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 104
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
सहस्रोद्यतशूलाय सहस्रनयनाय च । नमो बालार्कवर्णाय बालरूपधराय च
sahasrodyataśūlāya sahasranayanāya ca | namo bālārkavarṇāya bālarūpadharāya ca ||
भीष्म बोले— सहस्रों उठे हुए शूल धारण करने वाले और सहस्र नेत्रों वाले आपको नमस्कार है। आपकी कान्ति प्रातःकालीन सूर्य के समान दीप्तिमान है, और आप बालक-रूप धारण करते हैं—आपको प्रणाम है।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches reverent recognition of the divine as both formidable (many weapons, many eyes—omniscient vigilance and protective force) and compassionate/accessible (child-form, gentle radiance). Ethically, it models devotion aligned with dharma: surrender to a higher moral order that can protect and guide.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma speaks from his bed of arrows, instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and related themes. Here he utters a hymn of salutation, praising a deity with cosmic attributes—multiplicity of eyes and weapons and the brilliance of the morning sun—while also noting the deity’s childlike form.