Shloka 17

Devanagari script

स प्रभु: सर्वभूतानां विभुश्न भरतर्षभ । संक्षेपो विस्तरश्षैव कर्ता कारयिता तथा,भरतश्रेष्ठ! वे सर्वशक्तिमान्‌ सर्वव्यापी भगवान्‌ विष्णु ही समस्त प्राणियोंका संकोच और विस्तार करते हैं। वे ही करनेवाले और करानेवाले हैं

Transliteration

sa prabhuḥ sarvabhūtānāṁ vibhuś ca bharatarṣabha | saṅkṣepo vistaraś caiva kartā kārayitā tathā ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。バーラタ族の雄牛よ、あの主—遍在し、あらゆる存在を統べる方—こそが、創造の収縮と拡張の双方をもたらす。行うのはただその御方であり、他者に行わせるのもまたただその御方である。

Word by Word

सःhe (that one)

प्रभुःlord, master

सर्वभूतानाम्of all beings

विभुःall-pervading, mighty

भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas

संक्षेपःcontraction, withdrawal

विस्तरःexpansion, extension

चand

एवindeed, alone

कर्ताdoer, agent

कारयिताcauser, one who makes (others) do

तथाthus, likewise

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bharatarṣabha (Dhṛtarāṣṭra as addressee)

Lord (identified in the given text-note as Viṣṇu)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse asserts supreme divine agency: the Lord is both the direct doer (kartā) and the one who impels others to act (kārayitā), and he governs the cosmic processes of contraction and expansion. Ethically, it places human action within a larger providential order while still highlighting that actions unfold through an overarching ruler of all beings.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra in the Bhīṣma Parva war setting, pauses to describe the Lord’s all-pervading power. This theological framing contextualizes the impending and ongoing battlefield actions as occurring under a supreme cosmic governance.