Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 140
Śiva-nāmānukīrtana-prastāvaḥ
Prologue to the praise of Śiva and the Upamanyu testimony
अम्बोवाच ब्रह्मविष्णुसुरेन्द्राणां रुद्रादित्याश्विनामपि । विश्वेषामपि देवानां वपुर्धारयते भव:
ambovāca brahmaviṣṇusurendrāṇāṁ rudrādityāśvinām api | viśveṣām api devānāṁ vapur dhārayate bhavaḥ ||
Sinabi ni Ambā: “Si Bhava (Śiva) ay nag-aangkin ng mismong mga katawan nina Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Indra, ng mga Rudra, ng mga Āditya, ng mga Aśvin, at tunay ngang ng lahat ng mga diyos.”
वासुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches a theological unity: Śiva (Bhava) is presented as the one who can assume or encompass the forms of all major deities, implying that diverse divine powers are expressions of a single supreme reality.
Ambā continues her speech by praising Bhava (Śiva), declaring his supremacy and all-pervasiveness through the claim that he bears the bodies/forms of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Indra, and the other divine groups.