Shloka 155
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
दण्डधारस्त्र्यम्बकश्ष उग्रदण्डो5ण्डनाशन: । विषाग्निपा: सुरश्रेष्ठ: सोमपास्त्वं मरुत्पति:,मेरे यज्ञरूपी मृगके वधिक तथा व्याधियोंको लाने और मिटानेवाले भी आप ही हैं। (कृष्णरूपमें) मस्तकपर शिखण्ड (मोरपंख) धारण करनेके कारण आप शिखण्डी हैं। आप कमलके समान नेत्रोंवाले, कमलके वनमें निवास करनेवाले, दण्ड धारण करनेवाले, त्र्म्बक, उग्रदण्ड और ब्रह्माण्डके संहारक हैं। विषाग्निको पी जानेवाले, देवश्रेष्ठ, सोमरसका पान करनेवाले और मरुद्गणोंके स्वामी हैं
daṇḍadhāras tryambakaś ca ugradaṇḍo brahmāṇḍanāśanaḥ | viṣāgnipāḥ suraśreṣṭhaḥ somapās tvaṃ marutpatiḥ ||
Bhīṣma louva o Supremo: “Tu és o portador do bastão do castigo, Tryambaka (o Senhor de três olhos), cuja disciplina é feroz e cujo poder pode dissolver até a ordem cósmica. Tu podes beber veneno e fogo; és o melhor entre os deuses, bebedor de Soma e senhor dos Maruts.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the Supreme Lord embodies both mercy and discipline: he upholds dharma by wielding corrective authority (daṇḍa) and, at the cosmic level, has the power to dissolve the universe when order must be reset. Devotion here recognizes divine governance as ethically purposeful, not merely destructive.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma delivers teachings and praises the divine through a litany of epithets. Here he addresses the Lord with names strongly associated with Śiva (Tryambaka, poison/fire-drinker) and also with Vedic-divine sovereignty (Soma-drinker, lord of the Maruts), presenting the addressed deity as the all-encompassing source of divine powers.