Shloka 86
स्तव्य: स्तवप्रिय: स्तोत्र स्तुति: स्तोता रणप्रिय: । पूर्ण: पूरयिता पुण्य: पुण्यकीर्तिरनामय:
stavyāḥ stavapriyaḥ stotraṁ stutiḥ stotā raṇapriyaḥ | pūrṇaḥ pūrayitā puṇyaḥ puṇyakīrtir anāmayaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: He is worthy of praise; He delights in the praises of His devotees. He is the hymn by which His qualities and majesty are sung; He is the very act of adoration; and He is also the worshipper who offers praise. He is fond of righteous battle undertaken for the protection of dharma. He is complete in all perfections, and He fulfills and makes His devotees whole. He is pure merit itself, destroying sin by remembrance; His fame is supremely sanctifying; and He is free from all affliction, inward and outward.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents the Lord as the complete source and goal of devotion: He is both the object of praise and, in a deeper sense, the power enabling praise. Ethically, it links devotion with dharma—affirming that even conflict can be righteous when undertaken to protect moral order, while emphasizing purification through remembrance and sanctifying fame.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and extols the supreme Lord through a litany of divine epithets (the tradition of the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma). This verse is one segment of that praise, describing the Lord’s relationship to worship, His perfection, His role as fulfiller of devotees, and His freedom from all affliction.