Shloka 8
Śiva-nāmānukīrtana-prastāvaḥ
Prologue to the praise of Śiva and the Upamanyu testimony
भीष्मजी कहते हैं--राजन! मैं परम बुद्धिमान महादेवजीके गुणोंका वर्णन करनेमें असमर्थ हूँ। जो भगवान् सर्वत्र व्यापक हैं
bhīṣma uvāca—rājan! ahaṁ paramabuddhimān mahādevasyāpi guṇān varṇayitum aśaktaḥ. yo bhagavān sarvatravyāpī san sarvatra (sarvātmatvāt) na dṛśyate; yo brahma-viṣṇv-indrāṇām api sraṣṭā prabhuś ca; brahmādyaiḥ devaiḥ piśācāntaiś ca ya upāsyate; yaḥ prakṛter api paraḥ puruṣāc ca vilakṣaṇaḥ; yaṁ yogavidaḥ tattvadarśina ṛṣayaḥ cintayanti; yo ’vināśī paraṁ brahma sad-asat-svarūpaś ca; yena devādhidevena prajāpati-śivena svatejasā prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ ca kṣobhayitvā brahmaṇaḥ sṛṣṭiḥ kṛtā—tasya devadevasya buddhimataḥ mahādevasya guṇān varṇayituṁ garbha-janma-jarā-mṛtyu-yuktaḥ kaḥ manuṣyaḥ samarthaḥ? ko hi śakto bhavaṁ jñātuṁ madvidhaḥ parameśvaram, ṛte nārāyaṇāt putra śaṅkha-cakra-gadādharāt?
毗湿摩说道：“大王啊！纵然我也被称为智者，却仍无力尽述大自在天（Mahādeva）的功德。他遍满一切，却不为处处所见，因为他是万有之内我（Ātman）。他甚至是梵天、毗湿奴与天帝因陀罗的创造者与主宰。从以梵天为首的诸天，直到毗舍遮（piśāca）之类，皆敬奉于他。他超越普拉克里蒂，又异于普鲁沙；通晓瑜伽、洞见真谛的圣仙常观想于他。他是不坏者，至高梵，其性兼摄有与非有。那诸神之神——生主湿婆（Prajāpati Śiva）——以自身威光震动普拉克里蒂与普鲁沙，从而令梵天的创造运转起来。如此智慧的大自在天，其德其相，受胎、出生、衰老与死亡所系的凡人中，又有谁能尽数称说？再者，孩子啊，除却手持海螺、神轮与神杵的那罗延（Nārāyaṇa）自身，又有谁能如我一般知晓至上主湿婆的真实体性呢？”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches humility before the divine: Śiva’s nature is all-pervading, transcendent of categories like Prakṛti and Puruṣa, and ultimately identical with the supreme Brahman. Because human beings are bound by birth and death, they cannot fully grasp or describe him; only the highest divine standpoint—here identified with Nārāyaṇa—can truly know that Supreme Lord.
Bhīṣma, instructing the king in Anuśāsana Parva, praises Mahādeva and admits his own inability to exhaustively describe Śiva’s attributes. He situates Śiva as the lord even of major deities and as the cosmic principle behind creation, then concludes that only Nārāyaṇa (Viṣṇu), marked by conch, discus, and mace, can truly know Śiva’s full reality.