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 |
Bhishma said: “(I invoke) Gaya and the sacred ford of the Phalgu; the holy ‘Forest of Dharma’ thronged by the gods; the pure Devanadi; and the auspicious, sin-destroying lake fashioned by Brahma and famed in the three worlds. (Here follows the roll of divine and seerly lineages and names.) May Brahma—the Self-born, inconceivable and beyond description, the life-breath of all beings, revered by all, teacher of gods and demons—together with Savitri; may Narayana, source of the Vedas and maker of the world; Mahadeva, lord of Uma; Skanda and Vishakha; Agni, Vayu, the Moon and the Sun; Indra, Yama with Dhumorna, Varuna with Gauri, Kubera with Riddhi; Surabhi the cow; the sages and hosts of Maruts; Vyasa, Narada and Parvata; the Gandharvas and celestial messengers; the divine maidens and the Apsaras—Urvaśī, Menakā, Rambhā, Miśrakeśī, Alambuṣā, Viśvācī, Ghṛtācī, Pañcacūḍā, Tilottamā; the Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, the Ashvins, the Pitrs, and Dharma; knowledge of scripture, austerity, consecration and steadfast effort; Night and Day; Kashyapa; Shukra and Brihaspati; the planets and the measures of time; Garuda; the ocean; the serpent hosts; and the many rivers, sacred places, forests, lakes, mountains, directions, earth, trees, the Viśvedevas, sky, stars and planets—may all these protect us always. By this remembrance and naming, Bhishma frames protection not as mere fear-avoidance but as alignment with dharma: the world is held together by a moral and cosmic order, and one seeks safety by honoring that order—through reverence, restraint, and truthful recollection of the sacred.
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.