Shloka 115
Adhyātma–Adhibhūta–Adhidaivata Correspondences and the Triguṇa Lakṣaṇas (Śānti-parva 301)
एतन्मयोक्तं नरदेव तत्त्व॑ नारायणो विश्वमिदं पुराणम् स सर्गकाले च करोति सर्ग संहारकाले च तदत्ति भूय:
etan mayoktaṃ naradeva tattvaṃ nārāyaṇo viśvam idaṃ purāṇam | sa sargakāle ca karoti sargaṃ saṃhārakāle ca tad atti bhūyaḥ ||
ビーシュマは言った。「おお王よ、これが私が汝に説いた真の原理である。この古き宇宙は、実に万有に遍満するナーラーヤナそのものなのだ。創造の時には彼が宇宙を生み、融解の時にはそれを再び自らの内へと引き収める。かくして世界を自らの存在のうちに包み込み、万物の内なる自己たる主ナーラーヤナは、諸周期の狭間において、唯一の宇宙大海の水の上に安らかに横たわり休息する。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a theistic cosmology: the entire ancient universe is Nārāyaṇa Himself. Creation and dissolution are cyclical acts of the same Supreme Being—He manifests the world at creation and reabsorbs it into Himself at dissolution—implying that all beings rest in and depend upon the one divine reality.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs the king (Yudhiṣṭhira) on ultimate principles after the war. Here he concludes a doctrinal explanation (linked with Sāṅkhya-style ‘tattva’ discussion) by identifying the cosmic process—sarga and saṃhāra—with Nārāyaṇa’s sovereignty over the universe.