Shloka 31
ज्योतींषि शुक्लानि हि सर्वलोके त्रयो लोका लोकपालास्त्रयश्न । त्रयो5ग्नयो व्याहृतयश्न तिस्र: सर्वे देवा देवकीपुत्र एव
jyotīṁṣi śuklāni hi sarvaloke trayo lokā lokapālāś ca trayaḥ | trayo 'gnayo vyāhṛtayaś ca tisraḥ sarve devā devakīputra eva || viśvāvāsaṁ nirguṇaṁ vāsudevaṁ saṅkarṣaṇaṁ jīvabhūtaṁ vadanti | tataḥ pradyumnam aniruddhaṁ caturtham ājñāpayaty ātmayonir mahātmā ||
Bhīṣma said: In all the worlds, the pure lights are He; the three worlds are He; the three guardians of the worlds are He. The three sacred fires are He, and the three utterances (bhūḥ, bhuvaḥ, svaḥ) are He; indeed all the gods are none other than the son of Devakī. They speak of Him as Vāsudeva—support of the universe, beyond qualities—and as Saṅkarṣaṇa, the living principle. From Him proceed Pradyumna and Aniruddha as further manifestations, as the great Self-born Lord ordains and unfolds Himself.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a theological and ethical vision of unity: the many cosmic structures revered in Vedic religion—worlds, guardians, fires, sacred utterances, and even the gods—are ultimately grounded in and identified with one supreme reality, here named Krishna/Vāsudeva. This supports a dharmic ethic of single-minded devotion and reverence, seeing the divine as the inner essence of all sacred forms rather than competing powers.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma continues instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and sacred knowledge. Here he offers a praise-identification (stuti) of Krishna as the cosmic source, aligning Vedic categories with Krishna and mentioning further divine manifestations (Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha) to express how the one Lord unfolds as many.