Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 11
यदस्य बहुधा रूप॑ भूतं भव्यं भवत्तथा
yad asya bahudhā rūpaṁ bhūtaṁ bhavyaṁ bhavat tathā | bhūta-bhaviṣya-vartamāna-kāle sthāvara-jaṅgamākāreṣu tasya anekāni rūpāṇi prakaṭībhavanti | tasmāt sa “bahurūpa” iti kathyate | sarve devāḥ tasmin nivasantīti tasmāt sa “viśvarūpa” iti kathyate ||
伐由说道：“因其形相多方显现——为已然、将然与当下——又借不动与有动诸形而现，故称‘多形者’（Bahurūpa）。又因诸天皆住于其内，故称‘宇宙之形’（Viśvarūpa）。”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches divine all-pervasiveness: the Supreme is present across past, present, and future, manifesting as every kind of being—immovable and movable—hence ‘Bahurūpa’; and since all deities are contained within that reality, it is ‘Viśvarūpa’.
Vāyudeva explains the significance of two epithets—‘Bahurūpa’ and ‘Viśvarūpa’—by describing how the divine manifests in countless forms across time and as all categories of beings, with all gods residing within that cosmic form.