Shloka 8

Devanagari script

अस्य चाधो<थान्तरिक्ष॑ दिवं च दिशश्षतस्रो विदिशश्षतस््र: । सृष्टिस्तथैवेयमनुप्रसूता स निर्ममे विश्वमिदं पुराणम्‌

Transliteration

asya cādho ’thāntarikṣaṃ divaṃ ca diśaḥ śatasro vidiśaḥ śatasraḥ | sṛṣṭis tathaiveyam anuprasūtā sa nirmame viśvam idaṃ purāṇam ||

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。「彼の下には中界（大気の領域）と天界、百の方角と百の中間方角がある。創造の連なりは彼より流れ出し、この古き宇宙を造り上げたのもまた、この太初の者である。」

Word by Word

• {'asya': 'of him/this (genitive

• here: of that Supreme Being)', 'cādhaḥ (ca + adhaḥ)': 'and below', 'atha': 'then/indeed

• also used as a connective', 'antarikṣam': 'the intermediate space

• mid-region', 'divam': 'heaven

• the sky-world', 'diśaḥ': 'directions/quarters', 'śatasraḥ': 'hundredfold

• in hundreds (poetic hyperbole for innumerable)', 'vidiśaḥ': 'intermediate directions (sub-quarters)', 'sṛṣṭiḥ': 'creation

• the created order', 'tathā eva': 'just so

• in that very manner', 'iyam': 'this', 'anuprasūtā': 'continuously generated

• proceeding in succession', 'saḥ': 'he (that one)', 'nirmame': 'fashioned

• created (perfect/finite verb: ‘made’)', 'viśvam': 'the universe

• all that exists', 'idam': 'this', 'purāṇam': 'ancient

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Shri Krishna
• Antariksha (mid-region/atmosphere)
• Diva/Svarga (heaven)
• Directions (diśaḥ)
• Intermediate directions (vidiśaḥ)
• Universe (viśva)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

All realms—space, heaven, and the entire order of directions—are subordinate to the Supreme identified here with Krishna; creation proceeds from Him in an unbroken succession. The ethical implication is that dharma is rooted in alignment with the divine source of cosmic order.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma continues instructing Yudhishthira on dharma and the highest reality. Here he praises the Supreme Lord’s cosmic supremacy, describing the universe and its spatial structure as dependent on Him and created by Him.