Shloka 28
Śiśupāla-vākya: Bhīṣma-nindā and the ‘Haṃsa’ Exemplum (शिशुपालवाक्यम् — भीष्मनिन्दा, हंसदृष्टान्तः)
नक्षत्राणां मुखं चन्द्र आदित्यस्तेजसां मुखम् । पर्वतानां मुखं मेरुर्गरुड: पततां मुखम्
nakṣatrāṇāṁ mukhaṁ candra ādityas tejasāṁ mukham | parvatānāṁ mukhaṁ merur garuḍaḥ patatāṁ mukham ||
ਭੀਸ਼ਮ ਨੇ ਕਿਹਾ—“ਨਕਸ਼ਤਰਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਚੰਦਰਮਾ ਮੁੱਖ ਹੈ; ਤੇਜਸਵੀ ਪਦਾਰਥਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਸੂਰਜ ਮੁੱਖ ਹੈ। ਪਹਾੜਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਮੇਰੂ ਮੁੱਖ ਹੈ; ਉੱਡਣ ਵਾਲਿਆਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਗਰੁੜ ਮੁੱਖ ਹੈ।”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches by analogy: just as each domain has an acknowledged ‘foremost’ (Moon among stars, Sun among luminous powers, Meru among mountains, Garuḍa among birds), so too the Supreme Lord is the ultimate pre-eminent refuge and standard of excellence across all realms.
In the Sabha Parva context, Bhīṣma is speaking in a didactic, laudatory mode, using well-known cosmic hierarchies to support a broader claim made in the surrounding passage: that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is supreme among all supports of the worlds.