Shloka 173
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
चतुष्पथेषु रथ्यासु चत्वरेषु तटेषु च । हस्त्यश्वरथशालासु जीर्णोद्यानालयेषु च
catuṣpatheṣu rathyāsu catvareṣu taṭeṣu ca | hasty-aśva-rathaśālāsu jīrṇodyānālayeṣu ca ||
Di perempatan dan jalan-jalan, di alun-alun dan di tepi sungai; di kandang gajah, kandang kuda, dan balai kereta; di taman-taman tua dan rumah-rumah yang telah runtuh; di sungai, samudra, gunung, gua, pangkal akar pepohonan, kandang sapi, jalan-jalan terjal, dan hutan—di mana pun; juga di dalam pañca-bhūta, di segala arah dan arah antara, pada Candra dan Sūrya serta sinar-sinar mereka—kepada para dewa penjaga (adhisthātr̥) yang meresapi semua tempat itu, hamba bersujud berulang-ulang: hormat, hormat, hormat.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
That the divine presence (as presiding guardians of places) pervades all locations—public, ordinary, and neglected—so one should maintain reverence, purity of conduct, and ethical awareness everywhere, not only in explicitly sacred spaces.
In the Shanti Parva’s instruction on dharma, Bhishma enumerates many kinds of places and offers repeated salutations to the presiding deities associated with them, framing a practice of universal reverence and disciplined conduct in daily life.