Shloka 20
Bhīṣma Parva, Adhyāya 4 — Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Vyāsa Saṃvāda on Kāla and Jayalakṣaṇa
Signs of Victory
भूमौ च जायते सर्व भूमौ सर्व विनश्यति । भूमि: प्रतिष्ठा भूतानां भूमिरेव परायणम्,सब कुछ इस भूमिपर ही उत्पन्न होता है और भूमिमें ही विलीन होता है। भूमि ही सब प्राणियोंकी प्रतिष्ठा और भूमि ही सबका परम आश्रय है
bhūmau ca jāyate sarvaṁ bhūmau sarva vinaśyati | bhūmiḥ pratiṣṭhā bhūtānāṁ bhūmir eva parāyaṇam ||
Sanjaya said: All things are born upon the earth, and upon the earth all things pass away. The earth is the foundation of beings, and the earth alone is their final refuge—reminding the listener, amid the march toward war, of the shared mortality and common ground that underlies all pride and conflict.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Everything that lives arises from the earth and returns to it; recognizing the earth as the common foundation and final refuge encourages humility, detachment from arrogance, and ethical restraint—especially relevant when passions of war and victory threaten to eclipse awareness of mortality.
Sanjaya, narrating events to Dhritarashtra, offers a reflective statement about the earth as the origin and end of all beings, functioning as a sobering reminder within the war narrative that all combatants share the same fate and dependence on the same ground.