Shloka 108
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
आप वर्ण और आश्रमोंके भिन्न-भिन्न कर्मोंका विधिवत् विभाग करनेवाले, जपनीय मन्त्ररूप, घोषस्वरूप तथा कोलाहलमय हैं। आपको बारंबार नमस्कार है ।।
varṇa-āśramāṇāṁ bhinna-bhinna-karmāṇāṁ vidhivad vibhāga-kartre, japanīya-mantra-rūpāya, ghoṣa-svarūpāya, kolāhala-mayāya te punaḥ punaḥ namaḥ || śveta-piṅgala-netrāya kṛṣṇa-rakta-īkṣaṇāya ca | prāṇa-bhagnāya daṇḍāya sphoṭanāya kṛśāya ca, te namaḥ ||
आप वर्ण और आश्रमों के भिन्न-भिन्न कर्मों का विधिपूर्वक विभाग करनेवाले, जपनीय मन्त्र-स्वरूप, घोष-स्वरूप तथा कोलाहलमय हैं। आपको बार-बार नमस्कार है। आपके नेत्र कहीं श्वेत-पिङ्गल, कहीं कृष्ण और कहीं रक्तवर्ण हैं। आप प्राणवायु को जीतनेवाले, दण्ड (आयुध) रूप, ब्रह्माण्डरूपी घट को फोड़ देनेवाले तथा कृश-शरीरधारी हैं। आपको नमस्कार है॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises a cosmic authority who properly assigns differentiated duties (karma) within varṇa and āśrama, implying that social-ethical order is not arbitrary but grounded in rule (vidhi) and upheld by a power that also disciplines (daṇḍa). It links dharma with disciplined practice—mantra-recitation and mastery of prāṇa—showing that order, austerity, and reverent invocation belong together.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction setting, Bhīṣma speaks in a devotional register, offering repeated salutations (namaḥ) to a fierce, all-pervading divine principle. He describes that being through striking epithets—sound-like, tumultuous, mantra-embodied, breath-conquering, rod-like, and world-shattering—conveying both reverence and fear before the power that sustains and enforces dharma.