Shloka 115
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
उन्मादन शतावर्त गज्भातोयाद्रमूर्थज । चन्द्रावर्त युगावर्त मेघावर्त नमो<स्तु ते
unmādana-śatāvarta-gaṅgā-bhātoya-ārdra-mūrdhaja | candrāvarta-yugāvarta-meghāvarta namo 'stu te ||
Bhishma berkata: Wahai Tuhan yang menjerumuskan dunia ke dalam kebingungan; di atas kepala-Mu Gangga bangkit dalam ratusan gelombang dan pusaran, dan jata-Mu senantiasa basah oleh airnya. Wahai Dia yang menggerakkan bulan dalam putaran susut dan purnama, yang memutar kembali roda zaman, dan yang menggerakkan awan—sembah sujud bagimu.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches reverent recognition of the divine as the regulator of cosmic processes—delusion and clarity, lunar time, the turning of ages, and the movement of clouds—suggesting that dharma is lived best with humility before the vast forces that shape human perception and the natural world.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma is instructing Yudhishthira and, in the course of his discourse, offers a hymn of praise describing the deity’s cosmic attributes—Ganga in the matted locks, the moon’s cycles, recurring yugas, and cloud-movements—ending with a formal salutation.