Shloka 17
विभूति-योगः (Vibhūti-yoga) — Exemplary Manifestations as a Contemplative Index
सहस्रयुगपर्यन्तमहर्यद् ब्रह्मणो विदु: । रात्रि युगसहस्रान्तां तेडहोरात्रविदो जना:
sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ | rātriṁ yuga-sahasrāntāṁ te 'ho-rātra-vido janāḥ ||
Arjuna said: Those who truly understand the cosmic order know that a single ‘day’ of Brahmā extends for a thousand yugas; and that his ‘night’ too lasts until the completion of a thousand yugas. Such people are knowers of what day and night mean on the scale of creation—teaching that time is vast, cyclic, and to be viewed with spiritual discernment rather than human impatience.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a cosmic perspective on time: Brahmā’s ‘day’ and ‘night’ are each measured in thousands of yugas. This reframes human concerns within vast cycles of creation and dissolution, encouraging steadiness, humility, and clarity in one’s understanding of duty and spiritual aims.
In the Bhīṣma Parva context, Arjuna is speaking and articulating a doctrinal point about cosmic time—describing how the wise understand Brahmā’s day and night. The narrative moment uses cosmology to deepen the ethical-spiritual frame in which action and responsibility are to be understood.