Shloka 176

Devanagari script

येषां न विद्यते संख्या प्रमाणं रूपमेव च । असंख्येयगुणा रुद्रा नमस्तेभ्यो<5स्तु नित्यश:,जिनकी संख्या, प्रमाण और रूपकी सीमा नहीं है, जिनके गुणोंकी गिनती नहीं हो सकती, उन रुद्रोंको मैं सदा नमस्कार करता हूँ

Transliteration

yeṣāṃ na vidyate saṅkhyā pramāṇaṃ rūpam eva ca | asaṅkhyeyaguṇā rudrā namas tebhyo 'stu nityaśaḥ ||

Translation

Bhishma declares continual reverence to the Rudras—those whose number cannot be counted, whose measure cannot be fixed, and whose forms have no limiting boundary; their qualities are beyond enumeration. The verse frames devotion as humility before the immeasurable divine, reminding that ethical life rests on acknowledging what exceeds human calculation and control.

Word by Word

येषाम्of whom/whose

नnot

विद्यतेexists/is found

संख्याnumber/count

प्रमाणम्measure/limit

रूपम्form/shape

एवindeed/just

चand

असंख्येयगुणाःhaving innumerable qualities

रुद्राःRudras

नमःsalutation

तेभ्यःto them

अस्तुlet it be

नित्यशःalways/constantly

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Rudrāḥ (the Rudras)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches reverent humility: the divine (here, the Rudras) transcends human counting, measuring, and even fixed conceptualization of form. Recognizing this limit of human grasp supports a dharmic attitude—modesty, devotion, and restraint in claims of certainty.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Shanti Parva’s instruction-oriented setting, Bhishma offers a stuti (praise) directed to the Rudras, expressing perpetual homage to their immeasurable nature and innumerable qualities, as part of broader spiritual-ethical discourse.