Shloka 33

प्रतिग्रहभेदः — The Distinction between Giving and Accepting

Vṛṣādarbhī–Saptarṣi Dialogue

Devanagari script

सत्रजो वज्री वरी चैव विश्वेदेवा: सनातना: । विद्युद्वर्चा: सोमवर्चा: सूर्यश्रीक्षेति नामत:

Transliteration

satrajo vajrī varī caiva viśvedevāḥ sanātanāḥ | vidyudvarcāḥ somavarcāḥ sūryaśrīkṣeti nāmataḥ ||

Translation

قال بهيشما: «هؤلاء هم الفيشڤيديفات (Viśvedevas) القُدامى، المعروفون بأسماء: سترجا (Satraja)، وفجري (Vajrī)، وفري (Varī)، وفيديودڤرتشا (Vidyudvarcā)، وسومڤرتشا (Somavarcā)، وسورياشريكسه (Sūryaśrīkṣa)».

Word by Word

सत्रजःSatraja (a name/epithet)

वज्रीthe thunderbolt-bearer

वरीVārī (a name/epithet)

चand

एवindeed/also

विश्वेदेवाःthe Viśvedevas (all the gods as a class)

सनातनाःeternal/ancient

विद्युद्वर्चाःhaving lightning-like radiance

सोमवर्चाःhaving Soma-like radiance

सूर्यश्रीःSūryaśrī (sun-glory; a name/epithet)

इतिthus

नामतःby name/as names

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Viśvedevas

Satraja

Vajrī

Varī

Vidyudvarcā

Somavarcā

Sūryaśrīkṣa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes the traditional practice of preserving and reciting sacred lineages of divine names. In the Anuśāsana context, such naming serves as a form of reverent remembrance and a way to situate ethical instruction within a larger sacred cosmology.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma, in his instructional discourse, enumerates a set of the Viśvedevas and states their names. The passage functions as a catalog within a broader teaching section, identifying these deities explicitly ‘by name’.