Shloka 8

श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः

Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma

Devanagari script

सृजत्येष महाबाहो भूतग्रामं चराचरम्‌ | एष चाक्षिपते काले काले विसृजते पुन:,“पर महाबाहो! ये श्रीविष्णु ही सम्पूर्ण चराचर प्राणिसमुदायकी सृष्टि करते हैं और ये ही समय आनेपर उसका विनाश करते हैं एवं समय आनेपर पुन: सृष्टि भी करते हैं

Transliteration

sṛjaty eṣa mahābāho bhūtagrāmaṃ carācaram | eṣa cākṣipate kāle kāle visṛjate punaḥ ||

Translation

ビーシュマは言った。「おお、強き腕を持つ者よ、かの御方は動くものも動かぬものも、あらゆる生類の群れを創り出す。しかも時至ればそれを収め、時至れば再び放ち出す。」

Word by Word

सृजतिcreates

एषःthis (one), he

महाबाहोO mighty-armed one

भूतग्रामम्the multitude of beings

चराचरम्moving and unmoving

एषःthis (one), he

चand

आक्षिपतेwithdraws, draws back (destroys)

कालेin time, at the (proper) time

विसृजतेsends forth again, recreates

पुनःagain

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Mahābāhu (addressee, traditionally Yudhiṣṭhira)

Śrī Viṣṇu (implied by context)

Bhūtagrāma (all beings)

Time (kāla, implied as the cosmic cycle)

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?

All beings arise and subside according to a higher divine governance operating through time; recognizing this supports dharmic humility, steadiness, and reduced attachment to transient outcomes.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs the listener on higher principles; here he describes the Lord (identified in the surrounding context as Viṣṇu) as the agent who cyclically creates, withdraws, and re-creates the world of beings.