Shloka 109
धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)
पुराणं च भविष्यं च सरहस्यं च सत्तम । ब्रह्मन्! साधुप्रवर! तुम मुझमें भक्तिभाव रखनेवाले हो, इसलिये मैंने तुमसे भूत और भविष्यके सारे अवतारोंका रहस्यसहित वर्णन किया है || १०८ # ।।
purāṇaṃ ca bhaviṣyaṃ ca sa-rahasyaṃ ca sattama | brahman! sādhu-pravara! tvaṃ mayi bhakti-bhāvaṃ rakṣasi, tasmāt mayā tubhyaṃ bhūta-bhaviṣyatayoḥ sarveṣām avatārāṇāṃ rahasya-sahitaṃ varṇanaṃ kṛtam || (108) || bhīṣma uvāca: evaṃ sa bhagavān devo viśva-mūrti-dharo 'vyayaḥ ||
भीष्म म्हणाले—हे सत्तम! हे ब्राह्मण, साधूंमध्ये श्रेष्ठ! तू माझ्याविषयी भक्तिभाव ठेवतोस; म्हणून मी भूत व भविष्यकाळातील सर्व अवतारांचे रहस्यासहित वर्णन तुला केले आहे. अशा प्रकारे विश्वमूर्ती धारण करणारा, अव्यय असा तो भगवान् देव वर्णिला गेला.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage links spiritual receptivity (bhakti-bhāva) with eligibility for deeper instruction: because the listener is devoted and respectful, Bhishma shares a ‘rahasya’-level account of divine incarnations across time, emphasizing the Lord’s imperishable, cosmic nature.
Bhishma addresses a Brahmin interlocutor, stating that he has already narrated the mysteries of past and future avatāras due to the listener’s devotion; the text then transitions to a description of the Lord as the imperishable deity who bears the form of the universe.