Shloka 17
मेरोर्दिग्वर्णनम् / Digvarṇana of Meru: Uttara-Kuru, Bhadrāśva, and Jambūdvīpa Motifs
स प्रभु: सर्वभूतानां विभुश्न भरतर्षभ । संक्षेपो विस्तरश्षैव कर्ता कारयिता तथा,भरतश्रेष्ठ! वे सर्वशक्तिमान् सर्वव्यापी भगवान् विष्णु ही समस्त प्राणियोंका संकोच और विस्तार करते हैं। वे ही करनेवाले और करानेवाले हैं
sa prabhuḥ sarvabhūtānāṁ vibhuś ca bharatarṣabha | saṅkṣepo vistaraś caiva kartā kārayitā tathā ||
Санджая сказал: О бык среди Бхарат, тот Владыка — вездесущий и верховный над всеми существами — совершает и сжатие, и расширение мироздания. Он один — деяющий, и он же один побуждает других к деянию.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts supreme divine agency: the Lord is both the direct doer (kartā) and the one who impels others to act (kārayitā), and he governs the cosmic processes of contraction and expansion. Ethically, it places human action within a larger providential order while still highlighting that actions unfold through an overarching ruler of all beings.
Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra in the Bhīṣma Parva war setting, pauses to describe the Lord’s all-pervading power. This theological framing contextualizes the impending and ongoing battlefield actions as occurring under a supreme cosmic governance.