Shloka 163

Devanagari script

प्रत्यूषश्न प्रभासश्च॒ वसवोडूष्टौ प्रकीर्तिता: । धर, ध्रुव, सोम, सावित्र, अनिल, अनल, प्रत्यूष और प्रभास--ये आठ वसु कहे गये हैं

Transliteration

pratyūṣaś ca prabhāsaś ca vasavo ’ṣṭau prakīrtitāḥ | dharaḥ dhruvaḥ somaḥ sāvitraḥ anilaḥ analaḥ pratyūṣaḥ prabhāsaś ca—ete ’ṣṭau vasavaḥ smṛtāḥ ||

Translation

بھیشم نے کہا—“پرتیوش اور پربھاس کے نام بھی لیے گئے؛ یوں وسو آٹھ قرار دیے گئے ہیں۔ دھر، دھرو، سوم، ساوتر، انِل، انَل، پرتیوش اور پربھاس—یہی آٹھ وسو یاد کیے جاتے ہیں۔”

Word by Word

• प्रत्यूषः: Pratyūṣa (a Vasu)
• प्रत्यूषः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रत्यूष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• प्रभासः: Prabhāsa (a Vasu)
• प्रभासः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रभास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• वसवः: the Vasus
• वसवः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वसु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• अष्टौ: eight
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अष्टन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• प्रकीर्तिताः: are proclaimed/are said
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + कीर्त् (धातु) → प्रकीर्तित (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Vasus
• Dhara
• Dhruva
• Soma
• Sāvitra
• Anila
• Anala
• Pratyūṣa
• Prabhāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse preserves a traditional dharmic-cosmological enumeration: the Vasus are eight, and their names are to be known accurately. Such correct identification supports ritual, ethical, and scriptural literacy within the Mahābhārata’s dharma discourse.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma is answering and clarifying doctrinal details by listing the eight Vasus, giving their names as part of a broader exposition on sacred categories and traditional knowledge.