ज्योतींषि शुक्लानि हि सर्वलोके त्रयो लोका लोकपालास्त्रयश्न । त्रयो5ग्नयो व्याहृतयश्न तिस्र: सर्वे देवा देवकीपुत्र एव
jyotīṁṣi śuklāni hi sarvaloke trayo lokā lokapālāś ca trayaḥ | trayo 'gnayo vyāhṛtayaś ca tisraḥ sarve devā devakīputra eva || viśvāvāsaṁ nirguṇaṁ vāsudevaṁ saṅkarṣaṇaṁ jīvabhūtaṁ vadanti | tataḥ pradyumnam aniruddhaṁ caturtham ājñāpayaty ātmayonir mahātmā ||
Bhīṣma berkata: Di segenap dunia, cahaya-cahaya yang murni adalah Dia; tiga dunia adalah Dia; tiga penjaga dunia adalah Dia. Tiga api suci adalah Dia, dan tiga vyāhṛti (bhūḥ, bhuvaḥ, svaḥ) adalah Dia; sungguh, semua dewa tiada lain selain putra Devakī. Mereka menyebut-Nya Vāsudeva—penopang semesta, melampaui segala guna—dan Saṅkarṣaṇa, asas kehidupan. Dari-Nya tampil Pradyumna dan Aniruddha; Sang Mahātman yang lahir dari Diri sendiri menetapkan dan menghamparkan Diri-Nya sebagai perwujudan-perwujudan itu.
भीष्म उवाच
The verse teaches a theological and ethical vision of unity: the many cosmic structures revered in Vedic religion—worlds, guardians, fires, sacred utterances, and even the gods—are ultimately grounded in and identified with one supreme reality, here named Krishna/Vāsudeva. This supports a dharmic ethic of single-minded devotion and reverence, seeing the divine as the inner essence of all sacred forms rather than competing powers.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhishma continues instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and sacred knowledge. Here he offers a praise-identification (stuti) of Krishna as the cosmic source, aligning Vedic categories with Krishna and mentioning further divine manifestations (Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, Aniruddha) to express how the one Lord unfolds as many.