Shloka 48
अच्युत: प्रथित: प्राण: प्राणदो वासवानुज: । अपां निधिरधिष्ठानमप्रमत्त: प्रतिष्ठित:
acyutaḥ prathitaḥ prāṇaḥ prāṇado vāsavānujaḥ | apāṁ nidhir adhiṣṭhānam apramattaḥ pratiṣṭhitaḥ ||
毗湿摩说道：“他是阿周陀（Acyuta），不坠不变——不为任何变异所动；他是普拉提塔（Prathita），名闻于世——被颂为世界生起与秩序之因；他是普拉那（Prāṇa），生命之息——以宇宙的生机维系众生；他是普拉那达（Prāṇada），赐命者——滋养并扶持一切有情；他是瓦萨瓦阿努迦（Vāsavānuja），因陀罗之弟——在侏儒化身（Vāmana）中如是降生；他是阿帕姆尼地（Apāṁ Nidhi），众水之藏——以大海之相汇聚并容纳诸水；他是阿地什塔那（Adhiṣṭhāna），根基——作为一切众生的依止与本底；他是阿普拉玛塔（Apramatta），恒常警觉——从不懈怠；他是普拉提什提塔（Pratiṣṭhita），安住者——住于自身的威德与尊严之中。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches contemplative devotion through divine names: the Supreme is portrayed as changeless, life-sustaining, the cosmic foundation, and ever-vigilant. Remembering these epithets frames dharma as grounded in a stable, sustaining divine order rather than in human fluctuation or negligence.
In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma instructs Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and devotion. Here he continues a litany of Viṣṇu’s names (a section associated with the Viṣṇu-sahasranāma tradition), explaining the Lord’s attributes through epithets that connect theology with cosmic functions (life, support, vigilance).