Shloka 33

Devanagari script

स एवं चतुरो वर्णान्‌ समुत्पाद्य महातपा: । अध्यक्ष॑ सर्वभूतानां धातारमकरोत्‌ स्वयम्‌,इस प्रकार इन महातपस्वी श्रीहरिने चारों वर्णोको उत्पन्न करके स्वयं ही धाताको सम्पूर्ण भूतोंका अध्यक्ष बनाया

Transliteration

sa evaṁ caturo varṇān samutpādya mahātapāḥ | adhyakṣaṁ sarvabhūtānāṁ dhātāram akarot svayam ||

Translation

Demikianlah Sang Tapa Agung itu, setelah melahirkan keempat varṇa, Ia sendiri menetapkan Dhātṛ sebagai pengawas atas semua makhluk.

Word by Word

सःhe

एवindeed/just

चतुरःfour

वर्णान्social classes/varnas

समुत्पाद्यhaving produced/created

महातपाःthe great ascetic (one of great austerity)

अध्यक्षम्overseer/president

सर्वभूतानाम्of all beings

धातारम्Dhātṛ (the Creator)

अकरोत्made/appointed

स्वयम्himself

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Mahātapāḥ (the Lord, implied as Śrīhari/Viṣṇu in the given context)

Dhātṛ (Dhātā)

the four varṇas

all beings (sarvabhūtāni)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents creation as structured and supervised: the four varṇas arise as part of an intended social order, and a cosmic ‘overseer’ (Dhātṛ) is appointed to govern beings. Ethically, it frames dharma as alignment with an ordered universe—responsibility, role, and governance are portrayed as divinely instituted to prevent chaos.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s discourse in the Śānti Parva, he describes how the Lord (understood here as Śrīhari) created the four varṇas and then personally installed Dhātṛ as the superintendent of all creatures, depicting a hierarchical administration of the world after creation.