Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 155 Shloka 50 - Mahabharata | Sanskrit | Vedapath

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Shloka 50

Devanagari script

अशोकस्तारणस्तार: शूर: शौरिजनिेश्वर: । अनुकूल: शतावर्त: पद्मी पद्मनिभेक्षण:

Transliteration

aśokas tāraṇas tāraḥ śūraḥ śaurir janeśvaraḥ | anukūlaḥ śatāvartaḥ padmī padmanibhekṣaṇaḥ ||

Translation

भीष्म उवाच— अशोकस्तारणस्तारः शूरः शौरिजनेश्वरः। अनुकूलः शतावर्तः पद्मी पद्मनिभेक्षणः॥

Word by Word

अशोकःthe sorrowless one

तारणःthe deliverer (who ferries across)

तारःthe savior / rescuer

शूरःthe hero, valiant one

शौरिजनिईश्वरःlord of beings (born in the Śauri line)

अनुकूलःfavorable, benevolent

शतावर्तःthe hundred-fold (many-cycled/oft-returning) one

पद्मीlotus-bearing; lotus-possessing

पद्मनिभेक्षणःhe whose gaze/eyes are like a lotus

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Kṛṣṇa (as Śauri/Janeśvara)

lotus (padma)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse praises the Supreme Lord through epithets that emphasize ethical and spiritual assurance: the divine is sorrowless and removes sorrow, rescues beings from the cycle of birth-aging-death, remains benevolent to all as the inner Self, and repeatedly manifests to protect dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira and extols the Lord by reciting a sequence of divine names/attributes. This verse is part of that litany, identifying the deity (commonly understood as Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa) as protector, savior, and compassionate ruler.