Shloka 23

श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः

Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma

Devanagari script

भ्रुवोरनन्तरास्तस्य ग्रहा दानवसत्तम । नक्षत्रचक्रं नेत्राभ्यां पादयोर्भूश्न दानव

Transliteration

bhruvor anantarās tasya grahā dānavasattama | nakṣatracakraṃ netrābhyāṃ pādayor bhūśna dānava ||

Translation

ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു— ഹേ ദാനവശ്രേഷ്ഠാ! ഗ്രഹങ്ങൾ അവന്റെ ഇരുഭ്രൂകളുടെ ഇടയിൽ അടുത്തായി സ്ഥിതിചെയ്യുന്നു; നക്ഷത്രചക്രം അവന്റെ ഇരുനേത്രങ്ങളിൽ; ഹേ ദാനവാ, ഭൂമി അവന്റെ പാദങ്ങളിൽ തന്നെയാണ്.

Word by Word

भ्रुवोःof (his) two eyebrows

अनन्तराःimmediately following; close by

तस्यof him

ग्रहाःplanets

दानवसत्तमO best of the Dānavas

नक्षत्रचक्रम्the circle of constellations (zodiac)

नेत्राभ्याम्with (his) two eyes

पादयोःof (his) two feet

भूःthe earth

स्न(textually uncertain particle; possibly corruption)

दानवO Dānava

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Dānava (unnamed addressee)

grahāḥ (planets)

nakṣatra-cakra (circle of constellations)

bhū (earth)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses cosmic imagery to express overwhelming greatness and sovereignty: the ruler/being described is portrayed as containing the order of the heavens (planets and constellations) and the earth itself. Ethically, it reinforces reverence for a dharmically established authority whose power is aligned with cosmic order (ṛta/dharma), not mere brute force.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma addresses a Dānava and describes an extraordinary figure through a ‘cosmic-body’ metaphor: planets near the eyebrows, the stellar wheel in the eyes, and the earth at the feet. The passage functions as a heightened, visionary description meant to awe the listener and indicate the subject’s vast, world-encompassing stature.