Shloka 49
स्कन्द: स्कन्दधरो धुर्यो वरदो वायुवाहन: । वासुदेवो बृहद्धानुरादिदेव: पुरंदर:
skandaḥ skandadharo dhuryo varado vāyuvāhanaḥ | vāsudevo bṛhaddhānur ādidevaḥ puraṃdaraḥ ||
भीष्म उवाच— स स्कन्दः, स्कन्दधरः, धुर्यः, वरदः, वायुवाहनः। वासुदेवो बृहद्धानुरादिदेवः पुरन्दरः॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches devotional discernment: the One Lord is praised through many epithets, each highlighting a moral and protective function—upholding dharma, sustaining the world’s burden, granting boons in accordance with righteousness, and destroying forces that threaten cosmic order.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira and recites divine names as a form of teaching and praise. This verse is a segment of that litany, presenting a cluster of titles that describe the Lord’s power, beneficence, and guardianship.