Shloka 8
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 69: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Reverential Address to Sañjaya on Vāsudeva
वे सत्यसे कभी च्युत नहीं होते और न सत्त्वसे अलग ही होते हैं, इसलिये सद्भावके सम्बन्धसे उनका नाम 'सात्वत” है। आर्ष कहते हैं वेदको, उससे भासित होनेके कारण भगवानका एक नाम “आर्षभ' है। आर्षभके योगसे ही वे “वृषभेक्षण” कहलाते हैं (वृषभका अर्थ है वेद, वही ईक्षण--नेत्रके समान उनका ज्ञापक है; इस व्युत्पत्तिके अनुसार वृषभेक्षण नामकी सिद्धि होती है) ।। न जायते जनित्रायमजस्तस्मादनीकजित् । देवानां स्वप्रकाशत्वाद् दमाद् दामोदरो विभु:,शत्रुसेनाओंपर विजय पानेवाले ये भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण किसी जन्मदाताके द्वारा जन्म ग्रहण नहीं करते हैं, इसलिये “अज” कहलाते हैं। देवता स्वयंप्रकाशरूप होते हैं, अतः उत्कृष्ट रूपसे प्रकाशित होनेके कारण भगवान् श्रीकृष्णको “उदर' कहा गया है और दम (इन्द्रियसंयम) नामक गुणसे सम्पन्न होनेके कारण उनका नाम “दाम” है। इस प्रकार दाम और उदर--इन दोनों शब्दोंके संयोगसे वे 'दामोदर' कहलाते हैं
na jāyate janitrāyam ajas tasmād anīkajit | devānāṁ svaprakāśatvād damād dāmodaro vibhuḥ ||
Sañjaya said: He never falls away from truth, nor is he ever apart from sattva; therefore, by his bond with noble being (sadbhāva), he is called Sātvata. The seers call the Veda “Ārṣa”; and because the Lord shines forth through it, one of his names is Ārṣabha. Through that Ārṣabha connection he is also called Vṛṣabhekṣaṇa (taking vṛṣabha to mean the Veda, which, like an eye, makes knowledge known). The all-pervading Lord, conqueror of hostile armies, is not born through any begetter; therefore he is called Aja, “Unborn.” And since the divine is self-luminous, he is spoken of as Udar, “the supremely manifest”; and because he possesses dama, mastery over the senses, he is called Dāma. From the union of these two—Dāma and Udar—he is known as Dāmodara.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the Lord’s names are not mere labels but ethical-theological indicators: He is ‘Aja’ (unborn, beyond ordinary causation), ‘Anīkajit’ (protector who overcomes hostile forces), and ‘Dāmodara’ (marked by inner restraint and luminous manifestation). The emphasis links divine transcendence with the virtue of self-mastery (dama), suggesting that true power is grounded in inner discipline.
In Udyoga Parva, as war preparations intensify, Sanjaya recounts and characterizes Krishna through a chain of epithets explained by derivation. The narration functions to establish Krishna’s authority and moral stature—unborn, self-luminous, self-controlled, and victorious—thereby framing him as a decisive upholder of dharma in the coming conflict.