Shloka 124
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
वृक्षाणां ककुदो5सि त्वं गिरीणां शिखराणि च । व्याप्रो मृगाणां पततां ताक्ष्योडनन्तश्न भोगिनाम्,वृक्षोंमें प्रधान वट-पीपल आदि, पर्वतोंमें उनके शिखर, वन-जन्तुओंमें व्याप्र, पक्षियोंमें गरुड़ तथा सर्पोमें अनन्त आप ही हैं
vṛkṣāṇāṃ kakudo 'si tvaṃ girīṇāṃ śikharāṇi ca | vyāghro mṛgāṇāṃ patatāṃ tākṣyo 'nantaś ca bhoginām ||
വൃക്ഷങ്ങളിൽ നീ തന്നേ ശ്രേഷ്ഠൻ (വടം, അശ്വത്ഥം മുതലായവ); പർവതങ്ങളിൽ അവയുടെ ശിഖരങ്ങൾ നീ തന്നേ. മൃഗങ്ങളിൽ നീ വ്യാഘ്രൻ; പക്ഷികളിൽ താക്ഷ്യൻ (ഗരുഡൻ); സർപ്പങ്ങളിൽ അനന്തൻ നീ തന്നേ.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a contemplative way to recognize the Supreme: in every category of existence, the highest or most excellent exemplar points to the one divine excellence pervading and sustaining all. This supports devotion and ethical orientation by training the mind to see unity behind worldly distinctions.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and higher truths. Here he offers a litany of superlatives—chief among trees, peaks among mountains, tiger among beasts, Garuḍa among birds, Ananta among serpents—as a form of praise and identification of the Supreme with the foremost manifestations in nature.