Shloka 103
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
कृत्वा लोकान् गमिष्यामि स्वानहं ब्रह्मसत्कृतान् श्रीकृष्ण, बलभद्र, प्रद्यम्म और अनिरुद्ध--इन चार स्वरूपोंको धारण करनेवाला मैं असंख्य कर्म करके ब्रह्माजीके द्वारा सम्मानित अपने धामको चला जाऊँगा ।। हंस: कूर्मश्न मत्स्यश्न प्रादुर्भावा द्विजोत्तम,द्विजश्रेष्ठ) हंस, कूर्म, मत्स्य, वराह, नरसिंह, वामन, परशुराम, दशरथनन्दन राम, यदुवंशी श्रीकृष्ण तथा कल्कि--ये सब मेरे अवतार हैं
bhīṣma uvāca | kṛtvā lokān gamiṣyāmi svān ahaṃ brahma-satkṛtān | śrī-kṛṣṇa-balabhadra-pradyumna-aniruddha—iti catur-vidhaṃ rūpaṃ dhārayan aham asaṅkhyeya-karmāṇi kṛtvā brahmaṇā satkṛtaṃ svaṃ dhāma gamiṣyāmi || haṃsaḥ kūrmaś ca matsyaś ca varāha-nṛsiṃha-vāmanaḥ | paraśurāmo daśaratha-nandano rāmaḥ yaduvaṃśī śrī-kṛṣṇaḥ kalkiś ca—ete sarve mama avatārāḥ ||
Bhishma said: “Having brought forth the worlds, I shall depart to my own abode, honored by Brahmā. Assuming the fourfold manifestation—Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Balabhadra, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha—I, after performing innumerable acts, will go to my own realm, revered by the Creator. The Haṃsa, the Tortoise, the Fish, the Boar, Narasiṃha, the Dwarf, Paraśurāma, Rāma the son of Daśaratha, Śrī Kṛṣṇa of the Yadu line, and Kalki—these are all my incarnations.”
(भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage affirms a theological vision in which the Supreme is understood through multiple manifestations: the fourfold form (Kṛṣṇa, Balabhadra, Pradyumna, Aniruddha) and a sequence of avatāras (Haṃsa through Kalki). Ethically, it frames cosmic governance and protection of dharma as carried out through divine ‘descents’ and purposeful action, culminating in return to the divine abode.
Within Bhīṣma’s discourse in the Śānti Parva, a speaker articulates a self-description of divine activity: creating/ordering worlds, performing innumerable deeds, being honored by Brahmā, and then departing to one’s own dhāma. The statement then enumerates recognized avatāra forms, presenting them as manifestations of the same divine source.