Shloka 108
अनन्तो हुतभुग् भोक्ता सुखदो नैकजो<ग्रज: । अनिर्विण्ण: सदामर्षी लोकाधिष्ठानमद््भुत:
ananto hutabhug bhoktā sukhado naikajo 'grajaḥ | anirviṇṇaḥ sadāmarṣī lokādhiṣṭhānam adbhutaḥ ||
Bhishma said: He is endless; the consumer of sacrificial offerings; the sustainer who enjoys and governs the world; the giver of happiness. For the protection of dharma and the safeguarding of the righteous, He takes many births by His own will, yet He is the First-born, the primal Person. Ever free from weariness because He is fully fulfilled, ever forbearing toward the good, He is the wondrous foundation and support of all the worlds.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises the Supreme as infinite and wondrous, the cosmic support who receives sacrificial offerings, sustains the world, and grants bliss. It also teaches that divine incarnation (many births) can occur voluntarily for the protection of dharma, while the same Lord remains the primordial source beyond fatigue or limitation.
In Anushasana Parva, Bhishma is instructing Yudhishthira on dharma and extolling the Supreme through a sequence of divine epithets. This verse continues that litany, describing the Lord’s roles in sacrifice, governance of the cosmos, compassion toward the righteous, and His wondrous nature.