Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 155 Shloka 57 - Mahabharata | Sanskrit | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 57

Devanagari script

वैकुण्ठ: पुरुष: प्राण: प्राणद: प्रणव: पृथु: । हिरण्यगर्भ: शत्रुघ्नो व्याप्तो वायुरधोक्षज:

Transliteration

vaikuṇṭhaḥ puruṣaḥ prāṇaḥ prāṇadaḥ praṇavaḥ pṛthuḥ | hiraṇyagarbhaḥ śatrughno vyāpto vāyur adhokṣajaḥ ||

Translation

भीष्म उवाच— वैकुण्ठः पुरुषः प्राणः प्राणदः प्रणवः पृथुः। हिरण्यगर्भः शत्रुघ्नो व्याप्तो वायुरधोक्षजः॥

Word by Word

वैकुण्ठःVaikuṇṭha (Vishnu as the Supreme Abode/One of Vaikuṇṭha)

पुरुषःthe Person; the Cosmic Being

प्राणःlife-breath; vital force

प्राणदःgiver of life-breath

प्रणवःPraṇava; the syllable Oṃ

पृथुःbroad; expansive

हिरण्यगर्भःHiraṇyagarbha (the cosmic embryo; Brahmā)

शत्रुघ्नःslayer of enemies

व्याप्तःall-pervading; pervaded

वायुःwind; air

अधोक्षजःAdhokṣaja (the transcendent Lord, beyond sense-perception)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Viṣṇu (implied by the epithets)

Vaikuṇṭha

Oṁ (Praṇava)

Hiraṇyagarbha

Brahmā (by identification with Hiraṇyagarbha)

Devas (gods, implied in ‘enemies of the gods’)

Vāyu (wind principle)

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 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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.