Shloka 141
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
चतुर्युगश्चतुर्वेदश्नातुहोत्रप्रवर्तक: । चातुराश्रम्यनेता च चातुर्व्ण्यकरश्न यः,चार युग और चार वेद आपके ही स्वरूप हैं तथा चार प्रकारके होतृ-कर्मोंके प्रवर्तक आप ही हैं। आप चारों आश्रमोंके नेता तथा चारों वर्णोकी सृष्टि करनेवाले हैं
caturyugaś caturvedaś snātu-hotrapravartakaḥ | cāturāśramyanetā ca cāturvarṇyakaraś ca yaḥ ||
Bhīṣma berkata: “Empat yuga dan empat Veda ialah perwujudan-Mu; Engkaulah yang menggerakkan empat jenis upacara dan persembahan para hotṛ. Engkaulah pemimpin empat āśrama dan pencipta serta pengatur empat varṇa.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse attributes the foundations of dharma—time-cycles (yugas), revelation (Vedas), ritual practice, and the āśrama/varṇa frameworks—to the supreme principle addressed by Bhīṣma, presenting these institutions as deriving their authority from a single ultimate source rather than being merely human conventions.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and governance. Here he offers a hymn-like praise, identifying the addressed deity/principle as the originator and regulator of cosmic time, Vedic knowledge, sacrificial rites, and the social-spiritual disciplines that uphold order in society.