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 ||
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “Siya ang nagbubuhos na tila ulan ng maningning na karilagan, tagapagdala ng sukdulang liwanag, at pinakamainam sa lahat ng may tangan ng sandata. Tinatanggap niya ang mga handog ng kanyang mga deboto, pinipigil at pinamamahalaan ang lahat ng nilalang, at laging abala sa pagbibigay ng minimithing bunga sa mga lumalapit sa kanya. Siya ang ‘may maraming sungay’—sagisag ng sari-saring anyo ng banal na pananalita—at siya ang nakatatanda kay Gadā (yaong isinilang bago siya).”
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.