Shloka 171
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
जो अंगुष्ठमात्र जीवके रूपमें सम्पूर्ण देहधारियोंके भीतर विराजमान हैं, वे सदा मेरी रक्षा और वृद्धि करें ।।
yo 'ṅguṣṭhamātraḥ jīvake rūpeṇa sampūrṇa-dehadhāriṇāṁ bhitare virājamānaḥ, sa sadā mama rakṣāṁ ca vṛddhiṁ ca karotu || ye na rodanti dehasthā dehino rodayanti ca | harṣayanti na hṛṣyanti namas tebhyo 'stu nityaśaḥ ||
Sabi ni Bhīṣma: “Nawa’y ang panloob na simulain ng buhay—banayad na kasinlaki ng hinlalaki ngunit naroroon sa lahat ng may katawan—ay laging magtanggol sa akin at magpalago ng aking kagalingan. Ako’y walang humpay na yumuyuk sa mga Rudra na, bagama’t nananahan sa loob ng katawan, ay hindi sila ang umiiyak ngunit pinaiiyak ang may katawan; hindi sila ang nagagalak ngunit pinasasaya ang may katawan—mga kapangyarihang gumagalaw sa buhay sa loob habang nananatiling di-nadadapuan.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse points to an inner, subtle principle present in all embodied beings and to divine powers (Rudras) that operate within experience—producing sorrow and joy in the embodied—while themselves remaining unaffected. Ethically, it encourages reverence, humility, and a contemplative detachment: emotions arise in embodied life, yet the deeper indwelling reality is not bound by them.
In the Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and higher truths. Here he offers a prayer-like salutation: he seeks protection and flourishing from the indwelling life-principle and bows to the Rudras conceived as inner forces present within bodies that govern the arising of grief and joy.