Shloka 108
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
आप वर्ण और आश्रमोंके भिन्न-भिन्न कर्मोंका विधिवत् विभाग करनेवाले, जपनीय मन्त्ररूप, घोषस्वरूप तथा कोलाहलमय हैं। आपको बारंबार नमस्कार है ।।
varṇa-āśramāṇāṁ bhinna-bhinna-karmāṇāṁ vidhivad vibhāga-kartre, japanīya-mantra-rūpāya, ghoṣa-svarūpāya, kolāhala-mayāya te punaḥ punaḥ namaḥ || śveta-piṅgala-netrāya kṛṣṇa-rakta-īkṣaṇāya ca | prāṇa-bhagnāya daṇḍāya sphoṭanāya kṛśāya ca, te namaḥ ||
ビーシュマは、正しい規矩に従ってヴァルナとアーシュラマそれぞれの異なる務めを厳然と配分し、聖なる誦念（ジャパ）によって招請され、その臨在が轟く叫びと騒然たる喧噪のごとく響き渡る、畏るべき神威に対し、幾度も礼拝を捧げる。さらに彼は、眼が白みを帯びた黄褐、黒、そして赤という相反する色相を現し、プラーナ（生命の息）を制し、ダンダ—懲戒の杖・武器—として立ち、宇宙という器そのものをも打ち砕き得る、痩せた御身のその御方に敬礼する。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises a cosmic authority who properly assigns differentiated duties (karma) within varṇa and āśrama, implying that social-ethical order is not arbitrary but grounded in rule (vidhi) and upheld by a power that also disciplines (daṇḍa). It links dharma with disciplined practice—mantra-recitation and mastery of prāṇa—showing that order, austerity, and reverent invocation belong together.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction setting, Bhīṣma speaks in a devotional register, offering repeated salutations (namaḥ) to a fierce, all-pervading divine principle. He describes that being through striking epithets—sound-like, tumultuous, mantra-embodied, breath-conquering, rod-like, and world-shattering—conveying both reverence and fear before the power that sustains and enforces dharma.