Shloka 98
उद्धव: सुन्दर: सुन्दो रत्ननाभ: सुलोचन: । अर्को वाजसन: शृज्जी जयन्त: सर्वविज्जयी
uddhavaḥ sundaraḥ sundaḥ ratnanābhaḥ sulocanaḥ | arko vājasanaḥ śṛjñī jayantaḥ sarvavijjayī ||
Bhīṣma said: “He is called Uddhava, Sundara, Sunda, Ratnanābha, Sulocana; also Arka, Vājasana, Śṛjñī, Jayanta, and Sarvavijjayī.” By these epithets Bhīṣma enumerates auspicious names that praise the Lord’s self-willed incarnation, beauty and compassion, radiant form, beneficence toward supplicants, cosmic protection in times of dissolution, and invincible, all-knowing sovereignty—encouraging devotional remembrance as a dharmic practice.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Remembering and reciting the Lord’s auspicious names is presented as a dharmic act: the names encapsulate virtues—beauty, compassion, generosity, protective power, and invincibility—guiding the listener toward devotion and ethical orientation.
In Bhīṣma’s discourse (Anuśāsana Parva), he continues a litany of divine epithets, listing several names that glorify the Lord and hint at mythic functions (such as the horned fish form at pralaya), as part of a larger instruction on dharma and worship.