Shloka 153
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
शश: शशाड्क: शमन: शीतोष्णक्षुज्जराधिकृत् । आधयो व्याधयश्रैव व्याधिहा व्याधिरेव च
śaśaḥ śaśāṅkaḥ śamanaḥ śītoṣṇa-kṣud-jarādhikṛt | ādhayo vyādhayaś caiva vyādhihā vyādhir eva ca ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Ikaw si Śaśa, si Śaśāṅka (ang Buwan), at si Śamana (si Yama). Ikaw ang nagpapangyari—at siya ring nag-aalis—ng lamig at init, ng gutom, at ng katandaan. Ikaw ang mga pighati ng isip at ang mga karamdaman ng katawan; at Ikaw rin ang manggagamot na pumupuksa sa sakit—tunay, Ikaw ang sakit at ang lunas sa iisang sandali.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Lord is portrayed as the ultimate ground of both bondage and release: He is present as the very conditions of suffering (ādhi, vyādhi, hunger, old age, heat/cold) and also as the power that pacifies and removes them. Ethically, this encourages equanimity toward life’s opposites and devotion/surrender to the divine source beyond them.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma—lying on his bed of arrows and instructing Yudhiṣṭhira—utters a hymn-like sequence of divine names and attributes. This verse is part of that praise, identifying the deity with cosmic functions (Moon, Yama) and with human experiences of affliction and healing.