Shloka 46
युगादिकृद् युगावर्तो नैकमायो महाशन: । अदृश्योड्व्यक्तरूपश्न सहस्नजिदनन्तजित्
yugādikṛd yugāvarto naikamāyo mahāśanaḥ | adṛśyo 'vyaktarūpaś ca sahasrajid anantajit ||
Bhīṣma said: He is the originator of the ages and the one who turns the cycle of the yugas. He assumes manifold powers of illusion, and at the end of a cosmic era he consumes all. Invisible to the senses and unmanifest in form, he is the conqueror of thousands and the conqueror without end—ever victorious over all beings in every arena.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents the Supreme as the controller of cosmic time and dissolution: he initiates the yugas, turns their cycle, manifests through many powers (māyā), yet remains beyond sensory grasp and unmanifest in essence. Ethically, it grounds dharma in reverence for a transcendent ruler whose victory is universal and inexhaustible.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira and praising the supreme deity through a sequence of epithets. This verse continues that litany, describing divine attributes—cosmic governance, hiddenness, and invincibility—within Bhīṣma’s didactic discourse on dharma and devotion.