Shloka 7
मनु-उपदेशः — भूत-उत्पत्ति, इन्द्रिय-निवृत्ति, तथा पर-स्वभाव-विवेकः
Manu’s Instruction on Elemental Origination, Sense-Withdrawal, and Discrimination of the Supreme Nature
प्रसार्य च यथाड्रनि कूर्म: संहरते पुन: । तहद् भूतानि भूतात्मा सृष्टानि हरते पुन:
prasārya ca yathā aṅgāni kūrmaḥ saṃharate punaḥ | tathā bhūtāni bhūtātmā sṛṣṭāni harate punaḥ ||
ஆமை தன் அங்கங்களை விரித்து மீண்டும் உள்ளே இழுத்துக்கொள்வதுபோல, எல்லாப் பூதங்களின் அந்தராத்மையான பரமாத்மா படைத்த உயிர்களை வெளிப்படுத்தி, காலம் வந்தபோது மீண்டும் தன்னுள்ளேயே ஒடுக்கிக் கொள்கிறான்।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The world’s manifestation and withdrawal are compared to a tortoise extending and retracting its limbs: the Supreme Self projects beings and later reabsorbs them. This supports an ethical stance of steadiness and non-attachment, recognizing the impermanent, cyclic nature of phenomena under a higher order.
In Shanti Parva, Bhishma instructs Yudhishthira on dharma and higher knowledge. Here he uses a vivid simile to explain cosmic process—creation and dissolution—presenting the Supreme as the inner Self of all beings who expands the universe and then gathers it back.