Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 155 Shloka 47 - Mahabharata | Chinese | Vedapath

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Shloka 47

Devanagari script

इष्टोडविशिष्ट: शिष्टेष्ट: शिखण्डी नहुषो वृष: । क्रोधहा क्रोधकृत्कर्ता विश्वबाहुर्महीधर:

Transliteration

iṣṭo’viśiṣṭaḥ śiṣṭeṣṭaḥ śikhaṇḍī nahuṣo vṛṣaḥ | krodhahā krodhakṛtkartā viśvabāhur mahīdharaḥ ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：他是至爱者——以至上安乐为体，故为众生所爱；他是无差别者——超越一切限定之相；他是贤雅守礼之士所择之主；他是孔雀冠者，以孔雀翎为首饰；他是那呼沙（Nahuṣa），以幻力（māyā）系缚众生；他是“公牛”（Vṛṣa），即法（Dharma）之化身，成就正当愿求；他是灭怒者；他是诛灭以忿怒行事者（如魔类势力）之者；他是遍臂者，臂力周遍四方；他是持地者，荷载大地、扶持世界。

Word by Word

इष्टःbeloved, dear

अविशिष्टःundistinguished; without special limitation

शिष्टेष्टःdear to the virtuous / worshipped by the learned

शिखण्डीone wearing a crest/peacock-feather (crested one)

नहुषःNahusha (name/epithet)

वृषःbull; (figuratively) dharma/virile strength

क्रोधहाdestroyer of anger

क्रोधकृत्कर्ताmaker/agent of (righteous) wrath; one who causes/executes wrath

विश्वबाहुःone whose arms are everywhere; all-armed

महीधरःsupporter of the earth; earth-bearer

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

the Supreme Lord (Viṣṇu/Nārāyaṇa as implied by the sahasranāma-style epithets)

māyā

earth (mahī)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The Divine is praised as both beyond limiting attributes (aviśiṣṭaḥ) and as the active guardian of dharma—destroying anger and wrath-driven forces (krodhahā, krodhakṛtkartā) while sustaining the world (mahīdharaḥ). Ethically, it elevates self-control over anger as a divine-aligned virtue and presents dharma as protected and fulfilled by the Supreme.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira and recites a litany of divine names/epithets in praise of the Supreme Lord. This verse is one segment of that praise, enumerating qualities that portray the Lord as beloved, worshipped by the righteous, symbolically adorned (peacock-crested), and as the cosmic supporter who subdues anger and protects the world.