Shloka 29
गयाथ फल्गुतीर्थ च धर्मारिण्यं सुरैर्वृतम् । तथा देवनदी पुण्या सरकश्न ब्रह्मनिर्मितम्
bhīṣma uvāca |
gayātha phalgutīrthaṃ ca dharmāraṇyaṃ surair vṛtam |
tathā devanadī puṇyā sarakaśna brahmanirmitam ||
(ataḥ paraṃ devatā-ṛṣi-ādi-vaṃśa-nāmāvalī yathā—) sarvabhūta-namaskṛtaḥ devāsura-guruḥ acintyaḥ anirdeśyaḥ sarva-prāṇa-svarūpaḥ ayoni-jaḥ (svayambhūḥ) jagadīśvaraḥ pitāmahaḥ bhagavān brahmā | tasya patnī satī sāvitrī devī | vedotpatti-sthānaḥ jagatkartā bhagavān nārāyaṇaḥ | trinetraḥ umāpatiḥ mahādevaḥ | devasenāpatiḥ skandaḥ | viśākhaḥ | agniḥ | vāyuḥ | candramāḥ sūryaś ca | śacīpatiḥ indraḥ | yamarājaḥ | tasya patnī dhūmorṇā | varuṇaḥ gauryā saha | kuberaḥ ṛddhyā saha | surabhī gauḥ | maharṣiḥ viśravāḥ | saṅkalpaḥ | sāgaraḥ | gaṅgādayo nadyaḥ | marut-gaṇaḥ | tapaḥ-siddhāḥ vālakhilyāḥ | kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana-vyāsaḥ | nāradaḥ | parvataḥ | viśvāvasuḥ | hāhā hūhū tumburuḥ citrasenaḥ | devadūtāḥ | devakanyāḥ | apsarasaḥ—urvaśī menakā rambhā miśrakeśī alambuṣā viśvācī ghṛtācī pañcacūḍā tilottamā ca | dvādaśa ādityāḥ aṣṭau vasavaḥ ekādaśa rudrāḥ aśvinau pitaro dharmaḥ | śāstrajñānaṃ tapas dīkṣā vyavasāyaḥ | pitāmahaḥ rātriḥ dinaṃ ca | marīci-nandanaḥ kaśyapaḥ | śukraḥ bṛhaspatiḥ maṅgalaḥ budhaḥ rāhuḥ śanaiścaraḥ | nakṣatrāṇi ṛtavaḥ māsāḥ pakṣāḥ saṃvatsaraḥ | vinatā-putraḥ garuḍaḥ | samudraḥ | kadru-putrāḥ sarpagaṇāḥ | śatadruḥ vipāśā candrabhāgā sarasvatī sindhuḥ devikā prabhāsaḥ puṣkaraḥ gaṅgā mahānadī veṇā kāverī narmadā kulampunā viśalyā karatoyā ambuvāhinī sarayūḥ gaṇḍakī śoṇabhadraḥ tāmra aruṇā vetravatī parṇāśā gautamī godāvarī veṇyā kṛṣṇaveṇā adrijā dṛṣadvatī kāverī cakṣuḥ mandākinī prayāgaḥ prabhāsaḥ naimiṣāraṇyaṃ vimala-sarovaraṃ kurukṣetraṃ uttama-samudraḥ jambūmārgaḥ hiraṇvatī vitastā plakṣavatī vedavatī mālavaḥ aśvavatī gaṅgādvāraṃ ṛṣikulyā carmaṇvatī kauśikī yamunā bhīmarathī bāhudā māhendravāṇī tridivā nīlikā sarasvatī nandā aparanandā mahān hradāḥ gayā phalgutīrthaṃ dharmāraṇyaṃ devanadī brahmanirmitaṃ sarovaraṃ (puṣkaratīrtham) ca | himavān vindhyaḥ meruḥ mahendraḥ malayaḥ śvetagiriḥ śṛṅgavān mandaraḥ nīlaḥ niṣadhaḥ darduraḥ citrakūṭaḥ ajanābhaḥ gandhamādanaḥ somagiriḥ anye ca parvatāḥ | diśaḥ vidiśaḥ bhūmiḥ sarve vṛkṣāḥ viśvedevāḥ ākāśaṃ nakṣatra-grahagaṇāś ca—ete sadā asmān rakṣantu; ye ca nāmato gṛhītāḥ ye ca agṛhītāḥ te sarve devā asmān rakṣantu |
ഭീഷ്മൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഗയയും ഫൽഗുതീർത്ഥവും; ദേവന്മാർ ചുറ്റിനിൽക്കുന്ന പവിത്ര ധർമ്മാരണ്യം; പുണ്യമായ ദേവനദി; കൂടാതെ ബ്രഹ്മനിർമ്മിതമായ ആ കല്യാണസരോവർ—മൂന്നു ലോകങ്ങളിലും പ്രസിദ്ധം, പവിത്രം, സർവ്വപാപഹരം. (ഇതിനുശേഷം ദേവ-ഋഷ്യാദികളുടെ നാമാവലി തുടരുന്നു.) പേരെടുത്തവരും പേരെടുക്കപ്പെടാത്തവരും ആയ എല്ലാ ദേവതകളും ഞങ്ങളെ സദാ കാക്കട്ടെ।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as a dharmic benediction: protection is sought by reverently recalling the divine order—gods, sages, sacred rivers, tīrthas, and cosmic measures of time—implying that safety and well-being arise from alignment with dharma and respectful remembrance of what sustains the world.
Bhishma recites an expansive litany of sacred places and divine beings—beginning with Gaya and other tīrthas—and concludes with a prayer that all named and unnamed deities and cosmic powers continually protect ‘us’. It is a formal protective invocation embedded in his instruction.