Shloka 58
भीष्मस्य भीमसेन-निरोधः
Bhīṣma checks Bhīmasena; matched engagements intensify
प्रजापतिपते देव पद्मनाभ महाबल । आत्मभूत महाभूत सत्त्वात्मन् जय सर्वदा,देव! आप ही प्रजापतियोंके भी पति, पद्मनाभ और महाबली हैं। आत्मा और महाभूत भी आप ही हैं। सत्त्वस्वरूप परमेश्वर! सदा आपकी जय हो
bhīṣma uvāca |
prajāpatipate deva padmanābha mahābala |
ātmabhūta mahābhūta sattvātman jaya sarvadā ||
Bhishma said: “O God, Lord of the Prajapatis, O Padmanabha, O mighty one! You are the indwelling Self, and you are also the great elements that constitute the world. O Lord whose essence is pure being (sattva), may victory ever be yours.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse affirms the Lord’s supremacy and immanence: the same divine reality is both the inner Self (ātman) and the cosmic constituents (mahābhūtas). Ethically, it models devotion grounded in metaphysical insight—recognizing the divine as the basis of all beings and thus worthy of constant reverence.
Bhishma, speaking in the Bhishma Parva context, offers a hymn of praise to the supreme deity (addressed as Padmanabha), invoking titles of cosmic lordship and concluding with a victory-acclamation (“jaya sarvadā”). It functions as a devotional stuti within the larger war-time narrative, turning attention to divine sovereignty amid conflict.