Shloka 150
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
अधर्महा महापार्श्चक्षण्डधारो गणाधिप: । गोनर्दो गोप्रतारश्न॒ गोवृषेश्चवरवाहन:
adharmahā mahāpārśvaś caṇḍadhāro gaṇādhipaḥ | gonardo gopratāraś ca govṛṣaś ca varavāhanaḥ ||
பீஷ்மர் கூறினார்— நீ அதர்மத்தை அழிப்பவன்; மகாபார்ஷ்வன்; சண்டதாரன்; கணாதிபதி. நீ கோனர்தன்; பேரிடரில் பசுக்களை காக்கும் ரட்சகர்; கோவ்ருஷன்; சிறந்த வாகனத்தில் ஏறியவன்.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the Divine as the upholder of dharma and the ultimate refuge: the same supreme reality that permits the experience of hardship is also the power that removes it. Ethically, it urges turning toward dharma and seeking protection in the righteous, sustaining principle rather than in force or fear.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs and consoles Yudhiṣṭhira after the war. Here he offers a praise-list of divine epithets—celebrating the Lord’s power to destroy adharma, protect beings (symbolized by ‘cows’), and relieve human suffering such as hunger, aging, and mental distress.