Shloka 20
अग्राहा: शाश्वत: कृष्णो लोहिताक्ष: प्रतर्दन: । प्रभूतस्त्रिककुब्धाम पवित्र मड़लं परम्
agrāhyaḥ śāśvataḥ kṛṣṇo lohitākṣaḥ pratardanaḥ | prabhūtas trikakubdhāma pavitra-maṇḍalaṁ param ||
Bhīṣma said: He is beyond the grasp of the mind, eternal; Kṛṣṇa, the all-attractive blissful Lord; red-eyed, the destroyer who brings beings to dissolution at the end of time; abundant in knowledge and sovereign powers; the very abode and support of the threefold directions (above, below, and the middle); the purifier of all—indeed, the supreme circle of auspiciousness.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the Divine (here praised as Kṛṣṇa) transcends ordinary mental grasp, yet is the sustaining ground of the cosmos and the purifier of beings; devotion is grounded in recognizing both transcendence (agrāhya, śāśvata) and immanence (support of all directions, source of auspiciousness).
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma continues his instruction and praise, offering a litany of divine epithets for Kṛṣṇa/Vāsudeva—describing his eternal nature, cosmic sovereignty, role in dissolution, and power to purify—within a broader discourse on dharma and sacred remembrance.