Shloka 115
आधारनिलयोअ<थधाता पुष्पहास: प्रजागर: । ऊर्ध्वग: सत्पथाचार: प्राणद: प्रणव: पण:
bhīṣma uvāca | ādhāra-nilayo 'dhātā puṣpa-hāsaḥ prajāgaraḥ | ūrdhva-gaḥ satpathācāraḥ prāṇa-daḥ praṇavaḥ paṇaḥ ||
Bhishma said: He is the abiding ground and support of all beings; self-existent, with no maker above Him. Ever-awake and fully vigilant, He shines with a gentle, blossoming smile. Dwelling above all, He embodies and upholds the conduct of the righteous path. He bestows life—even restoring the fallen—and He is the sacred syllable Om itself, the One who deals with all beings in perfectly fitting and just measure.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the Supreme is both transcendent and immanent: the foundational support of the world, self-existent, ever-awake, the very standard of righteous conduct, and the life-giver. Ethically, it links devotion to the Divine with commitment to satpatha—right conduct—as an expression of the Divine nature.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and praising the Supreme through a litany of divine names/epithets. This verse is part of that praise, enumerating qualities that guide the listener toward reverence and righteous living.