Shloka 124
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 ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Dalam kalangan pohon, Engkaulah yang terutama (seperti beringin dan aśvattha); dalam kalangan gunung, Engkaulah puncak-puncaknya. Dalam kalangan binatang, Engkaulah harimau; dalam kalangan yang terbang, Engkaulah Tākṣya (Garuḍa); dan dalam kalangan ular, Engkaulah Ananta.”
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.