Shloka 79
Adhyāya 284: Tapas as a Corrective to Household Attachment
Parāśara’s Instruction
नमश्नण्डाय कुण्डाय अण्डायाण्डधराय च । दण्डिने समकर्णाय दण्डिमुण्डाय वै नम:
namaś caṇḍāya kuṇḍāya aṇḍāyāṇḍadharāya ca | daṇḍine samakarṇāya daṇḍimuṇḍāya vai namaḥ ||
毗湿摩曰：礼敬汝为旃陀（Caṇḍa），威烈者；礼敬汝为军陀（Kuṇḍa），如盆盛水，整个世界安住于汝腹中；礼敬汝为阿ṇḍa（Aṇḍa），即宇宙之卵；亦礼敬汝为阿ṇḍ陀罗（Aṇḍadhara），承载此宇宙者。礼敬汝为持杖者达ṇḍ因（Daṇḍin），施罚立纪者；礼敬汝为萨摩迦耳那（Samakarṇa），平等聆听一切者；礼敬汝为达ṇḍ伊穆ṇḍ（Daṇḍimuṇḍa），其相亦现于执杖剃首之苦行者。唯愿受我至诚敬礼。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the divine encompasses seemingly opposite functions: fierce punishment of wrongdoing (caṇḍa, daṇḍin) and impartial receptivity (samakarṇa), while also being the cosmic ground that contains and sustains the universe (kuṇḍa, aṇḍa, aṇḍadhara). It frames justice and ascetic discipline as expressions of the same ultimate order (dharma).
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and related teachings. Here he utters a reverential hymn-like salutation, stringing together epithets that praise the deity’s cosmic nature, moral governance through punishment, and presence in ascetic forms.