Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 155 Shloka 53 - Mahabharata | Sanskrit | Vedapath

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Shloka 53

Devanagari script

विक्षरो रोहितो मार्गों हेतुर्दामोदर: सह: । महीधरो महाभागो वेगवानमिताशन:

Transliteration

vikṣaro rohito mārgo hetur dāmodaraḥ sahaḥ | mahīdharo mahābhāgo vegavān amitāśanaḥ ||

Translation

भीष्म उवाच— विक्षरो रोहितो मार्गो हेतुर्दामोदरः सहः। महीधरो महाभागो वेगवानमिताशनः॥

Word by Word

विक्षरःimperishable; undecaying

रोहितःRohita (the red one; a fish-incarnation epithet)

मार्गःpath; means (to liberation/bliss)

हेतुःcause; reason

दामोदरःDāmodara (one whose belly was bound with a rope)

सहःenduring; patient (one who bears/forgives)

महीधरःearth-bearer; supporter of the earth

महाभागःgreatly fortunate; illustrious

वेगवान्swift; possessing speed

अमिताशनःof immeasurable consumption; all-devouring

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Dāmodara (Kṛṣṇa/Viṣṇu epithet)

Yaśodā

Rohita (fish-form avatāra epithet)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse strings together divine names to teach that the Supreme is simultaneously transcendent (imperishable), immanent (cause and support of the world), accessible through devotion (Dāmodara), ethically exemplary (forbearing toward devotees), and ultimately sovereign over time and dissolution (Amitāśana).

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira and recites sacred epithets of Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa as a devotional and dharmic practice; this verse is one segment of that litany, highlighting different aspects of the deity’s nature and deeds.