Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 14
तुम्बुरुश्नित्रसेनश्व देवदूतश्न विश्रुतः । देवकन्या महाभागा दिव्याश्वाप्सरसां गणा:
tumburuś citrasenaś ca devadūtaś ca viśrutaḥ | devakanyā mahābhāgā divyāś cāpsarasāṃ gaṇāḥ ||
भीष्म बोले—तुम्बुरु, चित्रसेन और विख्यात देवदूत; महासौभाग्यशालिनी देवकन्याएँ तथा दिव्य अप्सराओंके समुदाय—ये भी (उस पावन स्मरण में) गिने जाते हैं।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse participates in a protective invocation: remembering and honoring revered celestial beings is presented as spiritually efficacious, reinforcing dharmic humility and reliance on auspicious powers rather than ego or violence.
Bhīṣma is reciting a catalogue of divine and cosmic beings—here naming Gandharvas, a divine messenger, celestial maidens, and apsarases—as part of a broader enumeration meant to invoke protection and благоприятness (auspicious safeguarding).