Shloka 24
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
“दानवप्रवर! सम्पूर्ण ग्रह उनकी दोनों भौंहोंके बीचमें स्थित हैं। नक्षत्रमण्डल नेत्रोंसे प्रकट हुआ है। दनुनन्दन! यह पृथ्वी उनके दोनों चरणोंमें स्थित है ।।
dānavapravara! sampūrṇa-grahā ubhayor bhruvor madhye sthitāḥ | nakṣatra-maṇḍalaṃ netrābhyāṃ prakaṭaṃ bhavati | danunandana! iyaṃ pṛthivī ubhayor caraṇayoḥ sthitā || taṃ viddhi bhūta-viśvādīṃ paramaṃ viddhi ceśvaram | rajas tamaś ca sattvaṃ ca viddhi nārāyaṇātmakam | sa evāśramāṇāṃ phalaṃ tāta karmāṇāṃ tat phalaṃ viduḥ ||
Bhishma berkata: “Wahai yang terkemuka di antara para Daitya! Semua planet bersemayam di antara kedua alis-Nya; lingkaran rasi bintang memancar dari kedua mata-Nya. Wahai putra Danu, bumi ini bertumpu pada kedua kaki-Nya. Ketahuilah Dia sebagai wujud segala makhluk, asal mula jagat raya, dan Tuhan Yang Mahatinggi. Pahamilah rajas, tamas, dan sattva—tiga guṇa—sebagai dipenuhi oleh Nārāyaṇa. Anakku, Dialah buah dari semua āśrama; orang bijak mengetahui Dialah buah tertinggi yang dicapai melalui segala perbuatan.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage teaches that Nārāyaṇa is the supreme Lord and the cosmic ground of all phenomena: even the planets, stars, and earth are envisioned as resting within His body. Ethically and spiritually, it asserts that the ultimate ‘fruit’ of all duties—across every āśrama and every kind of karma—is realization/attainment of Him, and that even the three guṇas are to be understood as pervaded by Nārāyaṇa.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma is teaching about the highest principle. Addressing a listener described as ‘foremost among the Dānavas’ and ‘son of Danu,’ he presents a cosmic-body description of the supreme deity and then draws the doctrinal conclusion: the Lord is the origin of the universe and the final goal of all disciplined life and action.