Shloka 18
स्वयम्भू: शम्भुरादित्य: पुष्कराक्षो महास्वन: । अनादिनिधनो धाता विधाता धातुरुत्तम:
svayambhūḥ śambhur ādityaḥ puṣkarākṣo mahāsvanaḥ | anādinidhano dhātā vidhātā dhātur uttamaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “He is Self-born; Śambhu, the giver of well-being to devotees; Āditya, the radiant solar power; Puṣkarākṣa, lotus-eyed; Mahāsvana, whose mighty sound is the Veda itself. He is without beginning or end, the Sustainer (Dhātā), the Ordainer (Vidhātā) who arranges deeds and their fruits, and the Supreme Support (Dhātur-uttama) who upholds the entire web of cause and effect.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches contemplation of the Divine through epithets that express ethical and metaphysical truths: the Lord is eternal (beyond birth and death), sustains the world, and also ordains the moral order by connecting actions (karma) with their results—encouraging devotion grounded in responsibility and dharma.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma continues his instruction by praising and describing the Supreme Lord through a sequence of names/attributes. This functions as a devotional and doctrinal passage, presenting the deity as cosmic support, benefactor of devotees, and the regulator of the universe’s order.