Shloka 38
आवर्तनो निवृत्तात्मा संवृत: सम्प्रमर्दन: । अहःसंवर्तको वल्लिरनिलो धरणीधर:
āvartano nivṛttātmā saṁvṛtaḥ sampramardanaḥ | ahaḥsaṁvartako vahnir anilo dharaṇīdharaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: He is the one who sets the wheel of worldly existence in motion, yet whose own Self is ever withdrawn from bondage. Veiled by his own yogic power, he still becomes the force that crushes and subdues all through his fierce forms. As the Sun he rightly brings forth the day; as Fire he bears the oblation; as Wind he moves as the life-breath; and as the Earth-bearer—like Varāha and Śeṣa—he upholds the world. Thus the Lord is praised as the single reality appearing as many cosmic functions.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the Supreme Lord is one, yet manifests as many cosmic functions—sun, fire, wind, and world-support—while remaining inwardly free and untouched by bondage. Ethically, it urges reverence and alignment with dharma by recognizing a single divine order behind diverse powers.
Bhīṣma is praising the Lord through a chain of epithets, describing how the same divine reality operates the cosmos (time/day, sacrifice, breath, and the earth’s support) while remaining transcendent and veiled by yogic power.