Shloka 24
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
“दानवप्रवर! सम्पूर्ण ग्रह उनकी दोनों भौंहोंके बीचमें स्थित हैं। नक्षत्रमण्डल नेत्रोंसे प्रकट हुआ है। दनुनन्दन! यह पृथ्वी उनके दोनों चरणोंमें स्थित है ।।
dānavapravara! sampūrṇa-grahā ubhayor bhruvor madhye sthitāḥ | nakṣatra-maṇḍalaṃ netrābhyāṃ prakaṭaṃ bhavati | danunandana! iyaṃ pṛthivī ubhayor caraṇayoḥ sthitā || taṃ viddhi bhūta-viśvādīṃ paramaṃ viddhi ceśvaram | rajas tamaś ca sattvaṃ ca viddhi nārāyaṇātmakam | sa evāśramāṇāṃ phalaṃ tāta karmāṇāṃ tat phalaṃ viduḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：“噢，达伊提亚中之最胜者！诸行星皆安住于祂的双眉之间；星宿之环自祂双眼放光。噢，达奴之子，这大地安歇在祂的双足之上。应当知祂为一切众生之形体与根源，为宇宙之初因，为至上之主。又当了知：罗阇斯、塔摩斯与萨埵——三种古那——皆为那罗延所遍满。孩子啊，一切四住期（āśrama）之果唯在于祂；智者知晓，凭任何行为所能获得的终极果报，亦唯是祂。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage teaches that Nārāyaṇa is the supreme Lord and the cosmic ground of all phenomena: even the planets, stars, and earth are envisioned as resting within His body. Ethically and spiritually, it asserts that the ultimate ‘fruit’ of all duties—across every āśrama and every kind of karma—is realization/attainment of Him, and that even the three guṇas are to be understood as pervaded by Nārāyaṇa.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma is teaching about the highest principle. Addressing a listener described as ‘foremost among the Dānavas’ and ‘son of Danu,’ he presents a cosmic-body description of the supreme deity and then draws the doctrinal conclusion: the Lord is the origin of the universe and the final goal of all disciplined life and action.