Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 163

Devanagari script

प्रत्यूषश्न प्रभासश्च॒ वसवोडूष्टौ प्रकीर्तिता: । धर, ध्रुव, सोम, सावित्र, अनिल, अनल, प्रत्यूष और प्रभास--ये आठ वसु कहे गये हैं

Transliteration

pratyūṣaś ca prabhāsaś ca vasavo ’ṣṭau prakīrtitāḥ | dharaḥ dhruvaḥ somaḥ sāvitraḥ anilaḥ analaḥ pratyūṣaḥ prabhāsaś ca—ete ’ṣṭau vasavaḥ smṛtāḥ ||

Translation

毗湿摩言：“亦当称举普罗底优沙（Pratyūṣa）与普罗婆娑（Prabhāsa）；如是，婆苏（Vasu）被宣为八位：陀罗（Dhara）、陀卢婆（Dhruva）、苏摩（Soma）、萨维特罗（Sāvitra）、阿尼罗（Anila）、阿那罗（Anala）、普罗底优沙与普罗婆娑——此八者，世所忆念为八婆苏。”在此教诲中，毗湿摩阐明传统的神祇分类，为以法（dharma）为旨的知识与祭仪理解奠基。

Word by Word

• प्रत्यूषः: Pratyūṣa (a Vasu)
• प्रत्यूषः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रत्यूष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• प्रभासः: Prabhāsa (a Vasu)
• प्रभासः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रभास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• वसवः: the Vasus
• वसवः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वसु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• अष्टौ: eight
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अष्टन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• प्रकीर्तिताः: are proclaimed/are said
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + कीर्त् (धातु) → प्रकीर्तित (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Vasus
• Dhara
• Dhruva
• Soma
• Sāvitra
• Anila
• Anala
• Pratyūṣa
• Prabhāsa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse preserves a traditional dharmic-cosmological enumeration: the Vasus are eight, and their names are to be known accurately. Such correct identification supports ritual, ethical, and scriptural literacy within the Mahābhārata’s dharma discourse.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma is answering and clarifying doctrinal details by listing the eight Vasus, giving their names as part of a broader exposition on sacred categories and traditional knowledge.