Shloka 122
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
ब्राह्मणा: क्षत्रिया वैश्या: शूद्रा वर्णावराश्च ये त्वमेव मेघसंघाश्न विद्युत्स्तनितगर्जित:
brāhmaṇāḥ kṣatriyā vaiśyāḥ śūdrā varṇāvarāś ca ye tvam eva meghasaṅghāś ca vidyut-stanita-garjitāḥ
ភីष្មៈ «ព្រាហ្មណៈ ក្សត្រីយៈ វៃശ്യៈ សូទ្រៈ ហើយទាំងអ្នកនៅក្រៅចំណាត់ថ្នាក់បួន—សុទ្ធតែជារូបរាងរបស់ព្រះអង្គ។ ក៏ដូចជាផ្ទាំងពពកដ៏កកើតជាក្រុម ពន្លឺផ្លេក និងសូររន្ទះគ្រហឹម—ទាំងអស់នោះក៏ជាព្រះអង្គដែរ។»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a vision of the Divine as all-encompassing: social groups (the four varṇas and those beyond them) and natural phenomena (clouds, lightning, thunder) are presented as manifestations of the same ultimate reality, encouraging reverence, humility, and non-sectarian ethical regard.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and higher spiritual understanding. Here he speaks in a devotional-theological mode, describing the deity’s cosmic pervasiveness by identifying human society and the forces of nature as the deity’s own forms.