Shloka 103
अर्णुर्बृहत्कृश: स्थूलो गुणभृन्निर्गुणो महान् । अधृतः स्वधृत: स्वास्य: प्राग्वंशो वंशवर्धन:
aṇur bṛhatkṛśaḥ sthūlo guṇabhṛn nirguṇo mahān | adhṛtaḥ svadhṛtaḥ svāsyaḥ prāgvaṁśo vaṁśavardhanaḥ ||
ビーシュマは言った。「彼は最微よりも微にして、また最広よりも広い。きわめて細く軽やかであり、同時にきわめて厚く重い。あらゆる徳相を担いながら、三グナを超越する。比類なき力と威光と智によって大いなる者である。何ものにも支えられず、しかも自らを支える。光り輝き、麗しき面貌を具える。彼は万祖に先立つ原初の祖であり、諸系譜を増し広げる者—世界の相続を展開し、王統の連なりを保つ者である。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a theological paradox: the Supreme both pervades the realm of qualities (as their bearer) and yet transcends them (nirguṇa). He is simultaneously subtle and vast, unsupported by anything yet self-established—teaching that ultimate reality is not limited by ordinary categories and is the ground of cosmic order and lineage.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and praise of the Supreme. Here he recites epithets describing the Lord’s nature—cosmic, ethical, and metaphysical—within the broader devotional and didactic discourse.