Shloka 70
महर्षि: कपिलाचार्य: कृतज्ञों मेदिनीपति: । त्रिपदखस्रिदशाध्यक्षो महाशुड्र: कृतान्तकृत्
mahārṣiḥ kapilācāryaḥ kṛtajño medinīpatiḥ | tripad tridaśādhyakṣo mahāśṛṅgī kṛtāntakṛt ||
Bhīṣma said: “He is the great seer Kapila, the revered teacher; the Grateful One who counts the service of his devotees as a debt; the Lord of the earth; the three-footed cosmic form pervading the three worlds; the ruler of the gods; the Great-horned One; and the End-maker who brings all actions to their cessation.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse strings together honorific epithets to present the divine as simultaneously teacher (Kapila), sovereign (lord of earth and gods), cosmic pervader (tripad), and liberator (kṛtāntakṛt). Ethically, it highlights gratitude (kṛtajña) as a divine quality—valuing devotees’ service and responding with protection and release from the bondage of action.
Bhīṣma is describing the Lord through a litany of names and attributes. The passage functions as praise and identification: it situates the deity as the source of wisdom (Kapila/Sāṅkhya), ruler of cosmic orders (earth, gods, three worlds), and the power that ends karmic consequences for those who remember and worship.