Shloka 41
वृषाही वृषभो विष्णुर्वषपर्वा वृषोदर: । वर्धनो वर्धमानश्व विविक्त: श्रुतिसागर:
vṛṣāhī vṛṣabho viṣṇur vṛṣaparvā vṛṣodaraḥ | vardhano vardhamānaś ca viviktaḥ śrutisāgaraḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: He is Vṛṣāhī, who holds within himself the sacrificial rites such as the twelve-day Soma offerings; Vṛṣabha, who showers devotees with the gifts they seek; Viṣṇu, the embodiment of pure sattva; Vṛṣaparvā, who provides the ladder-steps of dharma for those aspiring to ascend to the supreme abode; Vṛṣodara, who bears dharma within his very being; Vardhana, who causes his devotees to grow and flourish; Vardhamāna, who expands as the manifested world; Vivikta, who remains untouched and separate from worldly entanglement; and Śrutisāgara, the ocean of the Vedas.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises the Lord through names that link ethics and spirituality: dharma is upheld internally (vṛṣodara), practiced through sacred duty (vṛṣāhī/yajña), and becomes a stepwise path toward the highest goal (vṛṣaparvā). At the same time, the Divine both pervades and sustains the world (viṣṇu, vardhamāna) yet remains untouched by it (vivikta), and is the inexhaustible source of revealed wisdom (śrutisāgara).
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and devotion. Here he recites a sequence of divine epithets (as part of the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma tradition), explaining the Lord’s relationship to sacrifice, Vedic revelation, the moral order, and the devotee’s spiritual ascent.