Shloka 27
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
श्रुतिशास्त्रग्रहोपेत: षोडशर्त्विक् क्रतुश्न सः । पितामहमश्न विष्णुश्न सोउ5श्विनौ स पुरंदर: | मित्रो5थ वरुणश्रैव यमो5थ धनदस्तथा
śrutiśāstragrahopetaḥ ṣoḍaśartvik kratuś ca saḥ | pitāmaham ca viṣṇuṃ ca so 'śvinau sa purandaraḥ | mitro 'tha varuṇaś caiva yamo 'tha dhanadas tathā ||
Disse Bhishma: «Dotado do domínio dos Vedas e dos śāstras, Ele é esse sacrifício provido de dezesseis sacerdotes oficiantes. Ele é também Pitāmaha (Brahmā) e Viṣṇu; é os gêmeos Aśvin e Purandara (Indra). É Mitra e Varuṇa igualmente; é Yama, e do mesmo modo Dhanada (Kubera).»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts a unitive vision: the one supreme reality is present as Vedic knowledge, as the sacrificial order, and as the various deities who administer different cosmic and moral functions. This supports an ethical outlook in which dharma is grounded in a single, all-pervading principle rather than competing divine powers.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and right understanding. Here he enumerates divine names and ritual elements to show that what people worship or recognize in many forms ultimately refers to one comprehensive reality that sustains the world and its moral order.