Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
होत्रं होता च होम्यं च हुतं चैव तथा प्रभु: । त्रिसौपर्ण तथा ब्रह्म यजुषां शतरुद्रियम्
hotraṁ hotā ca homyaṁ ca hutaṁ caiva tathā prabhuḥ | trisauparṇa tathā brahma yajuṣāṁ śatarudriyam ||
Bhishma berkata: Engkaulah hotra (jabatan kurban), hotā (imam yang mempersembahkan), homya (persembahan yang layak dihaturkan), dan huta (persembahan yang telah dicurahkan ke dalam api); dan Engkaulah pula Tuhan yang menganugerahkan buah dari upacara itu. Sebutan-sebutan Weda yang terdapat dalam himne Tri-suparṇa serta bagian Śatarudriya dalam Yajurveda, semuanya pada akhirnya adalah nama-nama yang merujuk kepada-Mu.
भीष्म उवाच
The verse teaches that the entire sacrificial system—priestly roles, offerings, the act of offering, and the bestowal of results—ultimately rests in and points to the one supreme Lord. Therefore, ritual should be grounded in right understanding and devotion, not treated as an independent mechanism.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction, Bhishma continues a theological exposition to Yudhiṣṭhira, identifying the deity addressed as the inner reality of Vedic ritual and as the referent of many Vedic epithets, including those in the Tri-suparṇa recitations and the Śatarudriya of the Yajurveda.