Shloka 47

Devanagari script

इष्टोडविशिष्ट: शिष्टेष्ट: शिखण्डी नहुषो वृष: । क्रोधहा क्रोधकृत्कर्ता विश्वबाहुर्महीधर:

Transliteration

iṣṭo’viśiṣṭaḥ śiṣṭeṣṭaḥ śikhaṇḍī nahuṣo vṛṣaḥ | krodhahā krodhakṛtkartā viśvabāhur mahīdharaḥ ||

Translation

इष्टोऽविशिष्टः शिष्टेष्टः शिखण्डी नहुषो वृषः । क्रोधहा क्रोधकृत्कर्ता विश्वबाहुर्महीधरः ॥

Word by Word

• इष्टः: beloved, dear
• इष्टः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: इष्ट (√इष्/इच्छ् से निष्पन्न; ‘प्रिय/इष्ट’)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अविशिष्टः: undistinguished; without special limitation
• अविशिष्टः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अविशिष्ट (वि-√शिष् ‘विशेष’/‘भेद’ से; ‘अविशिष्ट’)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• शिष्टेष्टः: dear to the virtuous / worshipped by the learned
• शिष्टेष्टः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शिष्ट + इष्ट
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• शिखण्डी: one wearing a crest/peacock-feather (crested one)
• शिखण्डी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिखण्डिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• नहुषः: Nahusha (name/epithet)
• नहुषः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नहुष
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वृषः: bull; (figuratively) dharma/virile strength
• वृषः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृष
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• क्रोधहा: destroyer of anger
• क्रोधहा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्रोध + हन् (हन् धातु; ‘हन्’ → ‘हा’)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• क्रोधकृत्कर्ता: maker/agent of (righteous) wrath; one who causes/executes wrath
• क्रोधकृत्कर्ता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्रोध + कृत् (√कृ) + कर्तृ (√कृ)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• विश्वबाहुः: one whose arms are everywhere; all-armed
• विश्वबाहुः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: विश्व + बाहु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• महीधरः: supporter of the earth; earth-bearer
• महीधरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मही + धर (√धृ)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• the Supreme Lord (Viṣṇu/Nārāyaṇa as implied by the sahasranāma-style epithets)
• māyā
• earth (mahī)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The Divine is praised as both beyond limiting attributes (aviśiṣṭaḥ) and as the active guardian of dharma—destroying anger and wrath-driven forces (krodhahā, krodhakṛtkartā) while sustaining the world (mahīdharaḥ). Ethically, it elevates self-control over anger as a divine-aligned virtue and presents dharma as protected and fulfilled by the Supreme.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira and recites a litany of divine names/epithets in praise of the Supreme Lord. This verse is one segment of that praise, enumerating qualities that portray the Lord as beloved, worshipped by the righteous, symbolically adorned (peacock-crested), and as the cosmic supporter who subdues anger and protects the world.