Shloka 49
अध्याय १९० — वामदेव-वाम्य-वृत्तान्तः
The Vāmadeva Horses Episode and the Ethics of Promise
आकाश पृथिवीं ज्योतिर्वायुं सलिलमेव च । लोके यच्च भवेच्छेषमिह स्थावरजड्रमम्,आकाश, पृथ्वी, अग्नि, वायु और जलका तथा इस संसारमें जो अन्य चराचर वस्तुएँ अवशिष्ट हैं, उन सबका निर्माण करूँगा
ākāśaṃ pṛthivīṃ jyotirvāyuṃ salilam eva ca | loke yac ca bhavec cheṣam iha sthāvarajaḍramam ||
Die Gottheit sprach: „Ich werde Raum, Erde, Feuer (Licht), Wind und Wasser hervorbringen—und was immer sonst in dieser Welt noch verbleibt, ob beweglich oder unbeweglich, selbst das Träge und Leblose.“
देव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents creation as a structured unfolding of the fundamental elements—space, earth, fire/light, wind, and water—followed by all remaining entities. Ethically, it implies that the world is not random but grounded in a coherent cosmic order, which supports the Mahābhārata’s broader idea that dharma operates within an intelligible, divinely sustained reality.
A divine speaker proclaims an act of creation: the bringing forth of the primary elements and, beyond them, the rest of the world’s contents, including immovable and inert forms. The statement functions as a cosmological assertion of divine sovereignty over the constitution of the world.