Shloka 108

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

आप वर्ण और आश्रमोंके भिन्न-भिन्न कर्मोंका विधिवत्‌ विभाग करनेवाले, जपनीय मन्त्ररूप, घोषस्वरूप तथा कोलाहलमय हैं। आपको बारंबार नमस्कार है ।।

Transliteration

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 ||

Translation

ನೀವು ವರ್ಣ ಮತ್ತು ಆಶ್ರಮಗಳ ವಿಭಿನ್ನ ವಿಭಿನ್ನ ಕರ್ಮಗಳನ್ನು ವಿಧಿಪೂರ್ವಕವಾಗಿ ವಿಭಾಗಿಸುವವರು; ಜಪ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಸ್ವರೂಪ; ಘೋಷಸ್ವರೂಪ; ಕೋಲಾಹಲಮಯ. ನಿಮಗೆ ಪುನಃಪುನಃ ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ನೇತ್ರಗಳು ಶ್ವೇತ-ಪಿಂಗಲ, ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಮತ್ತು ರಕ್ತವರ್ಣಗಳಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಕಾಶಿಸುತ್ತವೆ. ನೀವು ಪ್ರಾಣವಾಯುವನ್ನು ಜಯಿಸಿದವರು; ದಂಡ (ಆಯುಧ) ಸ್ವರೂಪ; ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಾಂಡರೂಪ ಘಟವನ್ನು ಸ್ಫೋಟಿಸುವವರು; ಕೃಶದೇಹಧಾರಿ. ನಿಮಗೆ ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ॥

Word by Word

• श्वेतपिङ्गलनेत्राय: to (him) whose eyes are white and tawny
• श्वेतपिङ्गलनेत्राय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्वेतपिङ्गलनेत्र
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• कृष्णरक्तेक्षणाय: to (him) whose eyes are black and red
• कृष्णरक्तेक्षणाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृष्णरक्तेक्षण
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• प्राणभग्नाय: to (him) who has broken/checked the breath (prāṇa)
• प्राणभग्नाय: Sampradana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्राणभग्न
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• दण्डाय: to the staff/rod (as a form/epithet)
• दण्डाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: दण्ड
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• स्फोटनाय: to the splitter/burster
• स्फोटनाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्फोटन
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• कृशाय: to the lean/thin one
• कृशाय: Sampradana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृश
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Varṇa
• Āśrama
• Mantra (japa)
• Daṇḍa (rod/weapon)
• Prāṇa (vital breath)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.