Shloka 23
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
भ्रुवोरनन्तरास्तस्य ग्रहा दानवसत्तम । नक्षत्रचक्रं नेत्राभ्यां पादयोर्भूश्न दानव
bhruvor anantarās tasya grahā dānavasattama | nakṣatracakraṃ netrābhyāṃ pādayor bhūśna dānava ||
பீஷ்மர் கூறினார்— ஓ தானவர்களில் சிறந்தவனே! கிரகங்கள் அவனுடைய இரு புருவங்களுக்கிடையில் அமைந்துள்ளன; நட்சத்திரச் சக்கரம் அவனுடைய இரு கண்களில்; ஓ தானவா, பூமி அவனுடைய பாதங்களில் உள்ளது.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses cosmic imagery to express overwhelming greatness and sovereignty: the ruler/being described is portrayed as containing the order of the heavens (planets and constellations) and the earth itself. Ethically, it reinforces reverence for a dharmically established authority whose power is aligned with cosmic order (ṛta/dharma), not mere brute force.
Bhīṣma addresses a Dānava and describes an extraordinary figure through a ‘cosmic-body’ metaphor: planets near the eyebrows, the stellar wheel in the eyes, and the earth at the feet. The passage functions as a heightened, visionary description meant to awe the listener and indicate the subject’s vast, world-encompassing stature.