Shloka 19
अप्रमेयो हृषीकेश: पद्मनाभो5मरप्र भु: । विश्वकर्मा मनुस्त्वष्टा स्थविष्ठ: स्थविरो ध्रुव:
aprameyo hṛṣīkeśaḥ padmanābho 'maraprabhuḥ | viśvakarmā manus tvaṣṭā sthaviṣṭhaḥ sthaviro dhruvaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : Il est incommensurable—Hṛṣīkeśa, le Seigneur des sens ; Padmanābha, dont le nombril porte le lotus, source du cosmos ; le Maître des Immortels. Il est Viśvakarman, l’architecte de l’univers ; Manu, le progéniteur et législateur ; Tvāṣṭṛ, la puissance qui façonne et qui, lors de la dissolution, épuise les êtres. Il est le plus massif, le plus ancien, et l’inébranlable, le ferme à jamais.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches contemplation of the Supreme through layered divine names: the Lord is beyond measurement, governs the senses, is the cosmic source, rules the gods, creates and orders the world (Viśvakarmā/Manu), and remains ancient and unshakably constant (dhruva). Remembering these attributes supports dharma by anchoring the mind in a stable, higher order.
Bhīṣma is reciting a sequence of divine epithets in praise of Viṣṇu (often aligned with Kṛṣṇa), presenting theological identifications—creator, lawgiver, cosmic sustainer/dissolver—within his instruction on dharma and devotion in the Anuśāsana Parva.