Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 4
भीष्मस्योत्तरायणप्रतीक्षा तथा युधिष्ठिरागमनम् | Bhīṣma’s uttarāyaṇa moment and Yudhiṣṭhira’s arrival
ब्रह्मा तस्योदरभवस्तस्याहं च शिरोभव: । शिरोरुहेभ्यो ज्योतींषि रोमभ्यश्व सुरसुरा:
brahmā tasyodarabhavas tasyāhaṁ ca śirobhavaḥ | śiroruhebhyo jyotīṁṣi romabhyaś ca surāsurāḥ ||
Īśvara said: “From his belly Brahmā was born, and from his head I myself arose. From the hairs of his head came forth the lights of the sky—the stars and constellations; and from the hairs of his body were manifested the gods and the asuras.”
ईश्वर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a cosmogonic vision in which diverse orders of beings arise from a single primordial source, emphasizing an underlying unity behind apparent oppositions (devas and asuras) and portraying the cosmos as an ordered emanation rather than a random event.
Īśvara describes the origins of major cosmic entities: Brahmā emerges from the primordial being’s belly, Īśvara from the head, celestial lights from head-hair, and devas and asuras from body-hair—mapping the universe onto a sacred body to explain creation and hierarchy.