Shloka 171
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
जो अंगुष्ठमात्र जीवके रूपमें सम्पूर्ण देहधारियोंके भीतर विराजमान हैं, वे सदा मेरी रक्षा और वृद्धि करें ।।
yo 'ṅguṣṭhamātraḥ jīvake rūpeṇa sampūrṇa-dehadhāriṇāṁ bhitare virājamānaḥ, sa sadā mama rakṣāṁ ca vṛddhiṁ ca karotu || ye na rodanti dehasthā dehino rodayanti ca | harṣayanti na hṛṣyanti namas tebhyo 'stu nityaśaḥ ||
Bhīṣma diz: “Que esse princípio vital imanente—sutil como um polegar e, ainda assim, presente em todos os seres encarnados—sempre me proteja e promova o meu bem-estar. Eu me inclino continuamente diante desses Rudras que, embora habitem no corpo, não choram eles mesmos e, no entanto, fazem chorar os encarnados; que não exultam eles mesmos e, no entanto, fazem exultar os encarnados—potências que movem a vida interior permanecendo intocadas.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse points to an inner, subtle principle present in all embodied beings and to divine powers (Rudras) that operate within experience—producing sorrow and joy in the embodied—while themselves remaining unaffected. Ethically, it encourages reverence, humility, and a contemplative detachment: emotions arise in embodied life, yet the deeper indwelling reality is not bound by them.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and higher truths. Here he offers a prayer-like salutation: he seeks protection and flourishing from the indwelling life-principle and bows to the Rudras conceived as inner forces present within bodies that govern the arising of grief and joy.