Shloka 42
धर्मद्वारबहुत्वविमर्शः — Reflection on the Many ‘Doors’ of Dharma (Śānti-parva 342)
गतिश्न सर्वभूतानां प्रजनश्वापि भारत । व्याप्ता मे रोदसी पार्थ कान्तिशक्षा भ्यधिका मम
gatiś ca sarvabhūtānāṁ prajanaś cāpi bhārata | vyāptā me rodasī pārtha kāntiś cādhikā mama | bharatanandana! samastaprāṇino ’ntakāle yasya brahmaṇaḥ prāptum icchanti tad api aham eva | kuntīkumāra! ahaṁ sarvān atikramya sthitaḥ | etaiḥ sarvaiḥ kāraṇair mama nāma “viṣṇu” abhavat |
O Bhārata, ich bin der Lauf und das letzte Ziel aller Wesen, und ich bin auch die Quelle, aus der sie hervorgehen. O Pārtha, ich durchdringe Himmel und Erde; mein Glanz überragt alles. O Bester der Bharatas, das Brahman, das alle Geschöpfe in der Stunde des Todes zu erreichen begehren—auch das bin ich. O Sohn der Kuntī, ich stehe jenseits von allem und übersteige alles. Aus all diesen Gründen lautet mein Name Viṣṇu—der Allgegenwärtige, der alles durchdringt.
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts the Supreme as both immanent and transcendent: the source and destination of all beings, pervading heaven and earth, yet surpassing all. It identifies the Brahman sought at death with the same Supreme, explaining the name ‘Viṣṇu’ as ‘the all-pervading’.
In a doctrinal exchange within Śānti Parva, the speaker addresses Arjuna with epithets (Pārtha, Kuntīkumāra) and proclaims a theological identification: the cosmic pervader, the ultimate object of liberation-seeking at death, and the one who transcends all—summarized by the name Viṣṇu.