Shloka 94
तेजोवृषो द्युतिधर: सर्वशस्त्रभृतां वर: । प्रग्रहो निग्रहो व्यग्रो नैकशूज़ी गदाग्रज:
tejo-vṛṣo dyuti-dharaḥ sarva-śastra-bhṛtāṁ varaḥ | pragraho nigraho vyagro naika-śṛṅgī gadāgrajaḥ ||
भीष्म उवाच— स तेजोवृषो द्युतिधरः सर्वशस्त्रभृतां वरः। भक्तार्पितपत्रपुष्पादीनि प्रगृह्णाति, सर्वभूतानां निग्रहीता नियन्ता च; भक्तानामभीष्टफलप्रदाने सदा व्यग्रः। स ‘नैकशृङ्गी’—विविधवाक्स्वरूपस्य प्रतीकः— तथा गदाया अग्रजः (गदापूर्वजन्मा) श्रीकृष्णः।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse praises the Lord as both compassionate and sovereign: he receives sincere devotion (accepts offerings), yet also restrains and governs the world (nigraha). Ethical life is framed as trusting a divine order that rewards devotion and upholds discipline—grace and governance functioning together.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and extols the Supreme through a litany of divine names (as in the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma tradition). This verse is one segment of that praise, enumerating epithets that describe the deity’s splendor, martial supremacy, receptivity to devotion, and universal control.