Shloka 15
Śiva-nāmānukīrtana-prastāvaḥ
Prologue to the praise of Śiva and the Upamanyu testimony
यस्मात् परतरं चैव नान्यं पश्यामि भारत | व्याख्यातुं देवदेवस्य शक्तो नामान्यशेषत:
yasmāt parataraṃ caiva nānyaṃ paśyāmi bhārata | vyākhyātuṃ devadevasya śakto nāmānyaśeṣataḥ ||
Bhishma said: “O Bharata, because of that unsurpassed greatness, I see no one other than the Supreme Lord Krishna who is capable of fully explaining, without remainder, the names of Mahadeva—the God of gods.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Spiritual authority to interpret the divine is grounded in supreme realization and greatness; Bhishma affirms that only Krishna, as the highest, can completely expound Mahadeva’s sacred names, highlighting reverence for both Krishna’s supremacy and Shiva’s divinity.
In Bhishma’s instruction to Yudhishthira (Bharata), he introduces or justifies the forthcoming exposition of Mahadeva’s names by asserting that no one except Krishna is fully competent to explain them exhaustively.