Shloka 90

Devanagari script

विश्वमूर्तिमहामूर्तिदीप्तमूर्तिरमूर्तिमान्‌ । अनेकमूर्तिरिव्यक्त: शतमूर्ति: शतानन:

Transliteration

viśvamūrtimahāmūrtidīptamūrtiramūrtimān | anekamūrtiravyaktaḥ śatamūrtiḥ śatānanaḥ ||

Translation

Bhīṣma dijo: «Su forma es el universo entero: el vasto Ser Cósmico; de forma inconmensurable, de forma radiante y, sin embargo, sin forma. Aunque asume muchas formas para el bien de los seres, su verdadera naturaleza permanece más allá de toda expresión completa. Es como si tuviera cien formas y cien rostros: ilimitado en su manifestación».

Word by Word

• विश्वमूर्तिः: whose form is the whole universe
• विश्वमूर्तिः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विश्वमूर्ति
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• महामूर्तिः: of vast/great form
• महामूर्तिः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महामूर्ति
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• दीप्तमूर्तिः: of radiant form
• दीप्तमूर्तिः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दीप्तमूर्ति
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अमूर्तिमान्: formless; having no (limited) form
• अमूर्तिमान्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अमूर्तिमत्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अनेकमूर्तिः: of many forms
• अनेकमूर्तिः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनेकमूर्ति
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इव: as if; like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• अव्यक्तः: unmanifest; not expressible
• अव्यक्तः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अव्यक्त
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• शतमूर्तिः: having a hundred forms
• शतमूर्तिः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शतमूर्ति
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• शताननः: having a hundred faces
• शताननः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शतानन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• The Supreme Lord (Vishnu/Narayana as cosmic form)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches the paradoxical fullness of the Divine: the Lord pervades the entire universe as a cosmic form, yet is ultimately formless and beyond complete description. Multiple manifestations (avatars and forms) are expressions of compassion and governance, not limitations of His true nature.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is praising and describing the Supreme Lord through a litany of epithets, emphasizing both immanence (as the universe itself) and transcendence (as the unmanifest), as part of a devotional-hymnic passage within Anuśāsana Parva.