Shloka 153
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
शश: शशाड्क: शमन: शीतोष्णक्षुज्जराधिकृत् । आधयो व्याधयश्रैव व्याधिहा व्याधिरेव च
śaśaḥ śaśāṅkaḥ śamanaḥ śītoṣṇa-kṣud-jarādhikṛt | ādhayo vyādhayaś caiva vyādhihā vyādhir eva ca ||
भीष्म म्हणाले— हे प्रभो! तूच शश, शशांक (चंद्र) आणि शमन (यम) आहेस. शीत-उष्ण, क्षुधा व जरा यांना उत्पन्न करणारा तूच आणि त्यांना हरून टाकणारा देखील तूच. तूच आधी-व्याधी आणि तूच व्याधिनाशक वैद्य; तूच रोग आणि तूच त्याचे औषध आहेस.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Lord is portrayed as the ultimate ground of both bondage and release: He is present as the very conditions of suffering (ādhi, vyādhi, hunger, old age, heat/cold) and also as the power that pacifies and removes them. Ethically, this encourages equanimity toward life’s opposites and devotion/surrender to the divine source beyond them.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma—lying on his bed of arrows and instructing Yudhiṣṭhira—utters a hymn-like sequence of divine names and attributes. This verse is part of that praise, identifying the deity with cosmic functions (Moon, Yama) and with human experiences of affliction and healing.