Shloka 30
उपेन्द्रो वामन: प्रांशुरमोघ: शुचिरूर्जित: । अतीन्द्र: संग्रह: सर्गो धृतात्मा नियमो यम:
upendro vāmanaḥ prāṁśur amoghaḥ śucir ūrjitaḥ | atīndraḥ saṁgrahaḥ sargo dhṛtātmā niyamo yamaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: He is Upendra, the Vāmana; the lofty one who strides beyond the worlds; the unfailing in action; the pure who sanctifies those who remember, praise, and worship; the mighty; the one surpassing even Indra by innate knowledge and sovereignty; the gatherer who withdraws all at dissolution; the source of creation; the self-possessed who assumes form by his own will while remaining unborn; the principle of restraint that keeps beings within their proper bounds; and Yama—the inner governor who regulates from within the heart.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the divine is not only an object of worship but also the very structure of moral and cosmic regulation: creation and dissolution, strength and purity, and especially niyama/yama—restraint and inner governance—by which beings are held to their proper dharma.
Bhīṣma is reciting a sequence of honorific names (epithets) of Viṣṇu, highlighting his avatāra as Vāmana/Trivikrama and his roles as purifier, supreme lord beyond Indra, creator, withdrawer at pralaya, and inner regulator (yama) who disciplines from within.