Shanti Parva Adhyaya 284 Shloka 167 - Mahabharata | Chinese | Vedapath

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Shloka 167

Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment

Parāśara’s Instruction

Devanagari script

सम्भक्ष्य सर्वभूतानि युगान्ते पर्युपस्थिते । यः शेते जलमध्यस्थस्तं प्रपद्ये3म्बुशायिनम्‌

Transliteration

sambhakṣya sarvabhūtāni yugānte paryupasthite | yaḥ śete jalamadhyasthaḥ taṃ prapadye 'mbuśāyinam ||

Translation

毗湿摩言：“当一劫将终，万有尽被吞没而归于溶灭之时，彼在水中安卧者——我归依于那位主，那位安息于宇宙大水之上的安卧者（Ambuśāyī）。”

Word by Word

सम्भक्ष्यhaving devoured/consumed

सर्वभूतानिall beings

युगान्तेat the end of the age (yuga)

पर्युपस्थितेwhen (it) has arrived/come about

यःwho

शेतेlies/reclines

जलमध्यस्थःsituated in the midst of the waters

तम्him

प्रपद्येI take refuge in / I surrender to

अम्बुशायिनम्the one who lies on/in the waters

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

Ambuśāyin (the water-reclining Lord, commonly identified with Vishnu/Narayana)

Pralaya (cosmic dissolution)

Ekarṇava (the single cosmic ocean, implied by the imagery)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches śaraṇāgati—seeking refuge in the Supreme Lord who remains sovereign even at cosmic dissolution. Ethical life and dharma are grounded in recognizing a stable, transcendent refuge beyond the rise and fall of worldly conditions.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction, Bhishma offers a devotional salutation: he invokes the Lord as Ambuśāyin, the deity who reclines upon the cosmic waters after consuming all beings at the yuga’s end, framing his discourse within a cosmic-theological vision.