Shloka 331
वेद्यो वैद्य: सदायोगी वीरहा माधवो मधु: । अतीन्द्रियो महामायो महोत्साहो महाबल:
vedyo vaidyaḥ sadāyogī vīrahā mādhavo madhuḥ | atīndriyo mahāmāyo mahotsāho mahābalaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: He is the One to be known through the Vedas—the true Physician who heals—ever established in yoga; the slayer of heroes; Mādhava, Madhu; beyond the reach of the senses, the wielder of vast divine illusion, of mighty resolve, and of great strength. In this litany of names, Bhīṣma praises the Lord’s supremacy and protective power—both as the inner object of sacred knowledge and as the decisive force that upholds dharma by overcoming destructive might.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents the Lord as the ultimate object of Vedic knowledge and the healer of worldly and spiritual suffering, while also affirming His transcendent nature (beyond the senses) and His power to uphold dharma through decisive strength and divine agency (māyā).
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing and praising the Supreme through a sequence of divine epithets (as in the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma context), describing the Lord’s qualities—healer, yogin, transcendent, and mighty protector—before the listening audience (notably Yudhiṣṭhira in this section).