Shloka 21
ईशान: प्राणद: प्राणो ज्येष्ठ: श्रेष्ठ: प्रजापति: । हिरण्यगर्भो भूगर्भो माधवों मधुसूदन:
īśānaḥ prāṇadaḥ prāṇo jyeṣṭhaḥ śreṣṭhaḥ prajāpatiḥ | hiraṇyagarbho bhūgarbho mādhavo madhusūdanaḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：祂是伊沙那，统御一切众生的至尊；既赐予生命之气，亦即那生命之气本身。以为万因之因，祂为最先、为最长；以为至上之善，祂为最胜、为最优。祂是生主（Prajāpati），众生之主。祂是金胎（Hiraṇyagarbha），遍满金色宇宙卵而为创造之源；亦是地胎（Bhūgarbha），以自身之胎藏含摄大地。祂是摩达瓦，吉祥天女拉克希米之夫；亦是摩度苏达那，诛灭魔王摩度者。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches devotion grounded in understanding: the Divine is praised as ruler, life-giver, primal cause, cosmic source, world-supporter, and destroyer of evil. Remembering such names cultivates humility (dependence on the life-giver), ethical steadiness (aligning with the supreme), and trust in divine protection.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs and uplifts by reciting and explaining divine epithets. Here he continues a sequence of names (commonly associated with Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa) that describe the Lord’s sovereignty, creative pervasion, sustaining power, and heroic destruction of demonic forces.