Shloka 203
अहिंसा-प्रधान धर्मविचारः
Ahiṃsā as the Superior Dharma: Practical and Scriptural Reasoning
अप्सु वर्षसहस्त्राणि सप्त चैकं च पार्थिव । राजन! तदनन्तर उसने उत्तम मौन-व्रत धारण कर लिया। पृथ्वीपते! फिर उसने जलमें आठ हजार वर्षोंतक रहकर तपस्या की
apsu varṣa-sahasrāṇi sapta caikaṃ ca pārthiva | rājan! tad-anantaraṃ sa uttamaṃ mauna-vrataṃ dhārayāmāsa | pṛthvīpate! punaḥ sa jale aṣṭa-sahasra-varṣāṇi sthitvā tapas tepe ||
毗湿摩说道：“噢，大王，地之主宰——他在水中停住了七千零一年。其后，他受持至上的默誓（mauna）。随后，噢，统御大地者——他又在水中修苦行，历时八千年。”
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the dharmic value of rigorous self-discipline: sustained tapas and the vow of silence (mauna) are portrayed as powerful ethical-spiritual practices that cultivate inner control, endurance, and purity of intention.
Bhīṣma narrates an episode in which a practitioner undertakes extreme austerities—remaining in water for thousands of years, then adopting a strict vow of silence, and again continuing penance in water for eight thousand years—illustrating the intensity of ascetic effort.