Shloka 103
अर्णुर्बृहत्कृश: स्थूलो गुणभृन्निर्गुणो महान् । अधृतः स्वधृत: स्वास्य: प्राग्वंशो वंशवर्धन:
aṇur bṛhatkṛśaḥ sthūlo guṇabhṛn nirguṇo mahān | adhṛtaḥ svadhṛtaḥ svāsyaḥ prāgvaṁśo vaṁśavardhanaḥ ||
毗湿摩说：他比至微更微，亦比至大更大；极其纤细轻灵，亦极其厚重广大。 他承载一切德相，却超越三种古那；以无比的威力、尊严与智慧而为“大”。 无所依而自立，自持而常住；光辉灿然，容颜端丽。 他是万祖之前的本初祖先，也是增广诸族之者——展开世界的相续，并护持王族血脉的延绵。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a theological paradox: the Supreme both pervades the realm of qualities (as their bearer) and yet transcends them (nirguṇa). He is simultaneously subtle and vast, unsupported by anything yet self-established—teaching that ultimate reality is not limited by ordinary categories and is the ground of cosmic order and lineage.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and praise of the Supreme. Here he recites epithets describing the Lord’s nature—cosmic, ethical, and metaphysical—within the broader devotional and didactic discourse.