Shloka 8

Devanagari script

अस्य चाधो<थान्तरिक्ष॑ दिवं च दिशश्षतस्रो विदिशश्षतस््र: । सृष्टिस्तथैवेयमनुप्रसूता स निर्ममे विश्वमिदं पुराणम्‌

Transliteration

asya cādho ’thāntarikṣaṃ divaṃ ca diśaḥ śatasro vidiśaḥ śatasraḥ | sṛṣṭis tathaiveyam anuprasūtā sa nirmame viśvam idaṃ purāṇam ||

Translation

ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു—അവന്റെ അധീനത്തിലാണ് അന്തരീക്ഷവും സ്വർഗ്ഗവും, അനവധി ദിക്കുകളും അനവധി ഉപദിക്കുകളും. അവനിൽ നിന്നുതന്നെ സൃഷ്ടിയുടെ ഈ അറ്റമില്ലാത്ത പരമ്പര തുടരുന്നു; ആ പുരാതന പ്രഭുവാണ് ഈ പ്രാചീന വിശ്വം നിർമ്മിച്ചത്.

Word by Word

• {'asya': 'of him/this (genitive

• here: of that Supreme Being)', 'cādhaḥ (ca + adhaḥ)': 'and below', 'atha': 'then/indeed

• also used as a connective', 'antarikṣam': 'the intermediate space

• mid-region', 'divam': 'heaven

• the sky-world', 'diśaḥ': 'directions/quarters', 'śatasraḥ': 'hundredfold

• in hundreds (poetic hyperbole for innumerable)', 'vidiśaḥ': 'intermediate directions (sub-quarters)', 'sṛṣṭiḥ': 'creation

• the created order', 'tathā eva': 'just so

• in that very manner', 'iyam': 'this', 'anuprasūtā': 'continuously generated

• proceeding in succession', 'saḥ': 'he (that one)', 'nirmame': 'fashioned

• created (perfect/finite verb: ‘made’)', 'viśvam': 'the universe

• all that exists', 'idam': 'this', 'purāṇam': 'ancient

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Shri Krishna
• Antariksha (mid-region/atmosphere)
• Diva/Svarga (heaven)
• Directions (diśaḥ)
• Intermediate directions (vidiśaḥ)
• Universe (viśva)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

All realms—space, heaven, and the entire order of directions—are subordinate to the Supreme identified here with Krishna; creation proceeds from Him in an unbroken succession. The ethical implication is that dharma is rooted in alignment with the divine source of cosmic order.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma continues instructing Yudhishthira on dharma and the highest reality. Here he praises the Supreme Lord’s cosmic supremacy, describing the universe and its spatial structure as dependent on Him and created by Him.