Shloka 23
सुरेश: शरणं शर्म विश्वरेता: प्रजाभव: । अह: संवत्सरो व्याल: प्रत्यय: सर्वदर्शन:
sureśaḥ śaraṇaṃ śarma viśvaretāḥ prajābhavaḥ | ahaḥ saṃvatsaro vyālaḥ pratyayaḥ sarvadarśanaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: He is the Lord of the gods; the supreme refuge of the distressed; bliss itself; the seed and cause of the universe; the source from whom all creatures arise. He is the light of day, the year that measures time, the cosmic serpent (Śeṣa) who bears the worlds, the truth realized by purified understanding, and the all-seeing witness of everyone. In this way, the teaching points the listener toward taking shelter in the Divine as the ground of order, time, and moral discernment.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches devotion grounded in recognition of the Divine as the ultimate refuge and the cosmic principle behind creation, time, and moral knowledge—encouraging surrender to the all-seeing witness who sustains order.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma continues his instruction by reciting a hymn-like sequence of divine names/attributes, describing the Supreme through epithets that link divinity with protection, bliss, creation, time, and omniscience.