Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 11
यदस्य बहुधा रूप॑ भूतं भव्यं भवत्तथा
yad asya bahudhā rūpaṁ bhūtaṁ bhavyaṁ bhavat tathā | bhūta-bhaviṣya-vartamāna-kāle sthāvara-jaṅgamākāreṣu tasya anekāni rūpāṇi prakaṭībhavanti | tasmāt sa “bahurūpa” iti kathyate | sarve devāḥ tasmin nivasantīti tasmāt sa “viśvarūpa” iti kathyate ||
Wika ni Vāyu: “Sapagkat ang anyo niya’y nahahayag sa maraming paraan—bilang nagdaan, darating, at kasalukuyan—na lumilitaw sa mga hugis ng kapwa di-gumagalaw at gumagalaw, kaya siya’y tinatawag na ‘Maraming-Anyo’ (Bahurūpa). At yamang ang lahat ng mga diyos ay nananahan sa loob niya, siya’y tinatawag na ‘Anyong-Sansinukob’ (Viśvarūpa).”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches divine all-pervasiveness: the Supreme is present across past, present, and future, manifesting as every kind of being—immovable and movable—hence ‘Bahurūpa’; and since all deities are contained within that reality, it is ‘Viśvarūpa’.
Vāyudeva explains the significance of two epithets—‘Bahurūpa’ and ‘Viśvarūpa’—by describing how the divine manifests in countless forms across time and as all categories of beings, with all gods residing within that cosmic form.