Shloka 34
मरीचिर्दमनो हंस: सुपर्णो भुजगोत्तम: | हिरण्यनाभ: सुतपा: पद्मना भः प्रजापति:
marīcir damano haṁsaḥ suparṇo bhujagottamaḥ | hiraṇyanābhaḥ sutapāḥ padmanābhaḥ prajāpatiḥ ||
Bhishma said: He is Marichi, the radiant one; Damana, the restrainer of wayward beings; Haṁsa, who assumes the swan-form to impart Vedic wisdom to Brahmā; Suparṇa, the fair-winged Garuḍa; Bhujagottama, the foremost of serpents as Śeṣa; Hiraṇyanābha, whose navel is splendid like gold; Sutapā, who performs noble austerities (as Nara-Nārāyaṇa at Badarikāśrama); Padmanābha, lotus-naveled; and Prajāpati, the lord who nurtures and governs all creatures.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that dharma is upheld by the divine through multiple functions—restraint of wrongdoing (damana), illumination and wisdom (marīci, haṁsa), protection and support (garuḍa, śeṣa), and sustaining governance of beings (prajāpati). Remembering these forms cultivates reverence for moral order and disciplined living.
Bhishma is reciting a sequence of divine names/epithets, identifying the Lord through well-known manifestations and attributes (Marīci, Haṁsa, Garuḍa, Śeṣa, Padmanābha, Prajāpati). The passage functions as a devotional and doctrinal enumeration within his instruction on righteous conduct.