Shloka 25

Devanagari script

अनादिनिधनोडव्यक्तो महात्मा मधुसूदन: । अयं जातो महातेजा: सुराणामर्थसिद्धये,इनका न आदि है न अन्त। ये अव्यक्तस्वरूप, महातेजस्वी महात्मा मधुसूदन देवताओंका कार्य सिद्ध करनेके लिये यदुकुलमें उत्पन्न हुए हैं

Transliteration

anādinidhano ’vyakto mahātmā madhusūdanaḥ | ayaṃ jāto mahātejāḥ surāṇām arthasiddhaye |

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “Madhusūdana—the great-souled one—has neither beginning nor end and is of unmanifest nature. Yet this supremely radiant Lord has taken birth to accomplish the purpose of the gods, restoring the cosmic order that upholds dharma.”

Word by Word

अनादिनिधनःbeginningless and endless

अव्यक्तःunmanifest

महात्माthe great-souled one

मधुसूदनःMadhusūdana (slayer of Madhu)

अयम्this (one)

जातःborn / arisen

महातेजाःof great splendor

सुराणाम्of the gods

अर्थसिद्धयेfor the accomplishment of the purpose

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Madhusūdana (Kṛṣṇa)

Suras (Devas)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse affirms the paradox of the divine: the Lord is beginningless, endless, and unmanifest in essence, yet voluntarily appears in a manifest birth to fulfill a cosmic purpose—supporting the gods and re-establishing dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhīṣma’s instruction (Anuśāsana Parva), he praises and explains the nature of Madhusūdana (Kṛṣṇa): though transcendent and beyond ordinary perception, he manifests in the world to accomplish the aims of the devas—i.e., to aid the restoration of righteous order.