Shloka 47
इष्टोडविशिष्ट: शिष्टेष्ट: शिखण्डी नहुषो वृष: । क्रोधहा क्रोधकृत्कर्ता विश्वबाहुर्महीधर:
iṣṭo’viśiṣṭaḥ śiṣṭeṣṭaḥ śikhaṇḍī nahuṣo vṛṣaḥ | krodhahā krodhakṛtkartā viśvabāhur mahīdharaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: He is the Beloved—dear to all by being the very form of supreme bliss; the Unqualified—beyond limiting attributes; the Chosen Lord of the cultured and disciplined; the Peacock-crested, wearing the peacock-feather as a head-ornament; Nahuṣa, who binds beings through māyā; Vṛṣa, the very embodiment of dharma who fulfills rightful desires; the Destroyer of anger; the Slayer of those who act in wrath (such as demonic forces); the All-armed, whose arms extend everywhere; and the Earth-bearer, who upholds the world.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The Divine is praised as both beyond limiting attributes (aviśiṣṭaḥ) and as the active guardian of dharma—destroying anger and wrath-driven forces (krodhahā, krodhakṛtkartā) while sustaining the world (mahīdharaḥ). Ethically, it elevates self-control over anger as a divine-aligned virtue and presents dharma as protected and fulfilled by the Supreme.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira and recites a litany of divine names/epithets in praise of the Supreme Lord. This verse is one segment of that praise, enumerating qualities that portray the Lord as beloved, worshipped by the righteous, symbolically adorned (peacock-crested), and as the cosmic supporter who subdues anger and protects the world.