Shloka 57
वैकुण्ठ: पुरुष: प्राण: प्राणद: प्रणव: पृथु: । हिरण्यगर्भ: शत्रुघ्नो व्याप्तो वायुरधोक्षज:
vaikuṇṭhaḥ puruṣaḥ prāṇaḥ prāṇadaḥ praṇavaḥ pṛthuḥ | hiraṇyagarbhaḥ śatrughno vyāpto vāyur adhokṣajaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: He is Vaikuṇṭha, the Supreme Abode itself; the Puruṣa who rests within the cosmic form; Prāṇa, the life-breath that animates all activity; and Prāṇada, the giver of life at the beginning of creation. He is Praṇava, the very syllable Oṁ; Pṛthu, the Vast One spread out as the Virāṭ; Hiraṇyagarbha, manifest as Brahmā; Śatrughna, the slayer of the gods’ foes; Vyāpta, pervading all effects as their causal ground; Vāyu, present as the wind; and Adhokṣaja, whose own nature never diminishes and who lies beyond the reach of the senses.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches contemplative recognition of the Supreme through many epithets: the Lord is simultaneously transcendent (Adhokṣaja), immanent (Vyāpta), and the very life-force (Prāṇa). Remembering these names cultivates devotion and aligns one’s understanding of dharma with the cosmic order sustained by the Divine.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and spiritual practice. Here he continues a litany of divine names (a praise/recitation context), describing the Lord’s cosmic functions—creation, pervasion, protection, and transcendence—through a sequence of revered epithets.