Shloka 16
योगो योगविदां नेता प्रधानपुरुषेश्वर: । नारसिंहवपु: श्रीमान् केशव: पुरुषोत्तम:
yogo yogavidāṁ netā pradhāna-puruṣeśvaraḥ | nārasiṁha-vapuḥ śrīmān keśavaḥ puruṣottamaḥ ||
भीष्म बोले—वही योग है और योग को जानने वालों का नेता है; वही प्रकृति और पुरुष का ईश्वर है। वही श्रीमान् है, जो नरसिंह-रूप धारण करता है; वही केशव है; और वही पुरुषोत्तम है—क्षर और अक्षर दोनों से परे।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the Supreme Lord is both the goal and the guide of spiritual discipline: He is ‘Yoga’ (inner restraint and realization), the leader of yogic knowers, and the sovereign over both Prakṛti (nature) and Puruṣa (spirit). Ethically, it links dharma to self-mastery and devotion to the highest ruler who sustains cosmic and inner order.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs and praises the Supreme through a litany of divine names and attributes. Here he enumerates epithets of Keśava—highlighting His yogic guidance, metaphysical lordship, protective Narasiṁha form, and supreme status beyond the perishable and imperishable.