Shloka 13
Brahmā’s Enumeration of Primacies (Ādi) and the Supremacy of Knowledge
Jñāna
पर्वतानां महामेरु: सर्वेषामग्रज: स्मृत: । दिशां च प्रदिशां चोर्ध्व॑ दिक्पूर्वा प्रथणा तथा,समस्त पर्वतोंमें सबसे पहले महामेरुगिरिकी उत्पत्ति हुई है। दिशा और विदिशाओंमें पूर्व दिशा उत्तम और आदि मानी गयी है
parvatānāṃ mahāmeruḥ sarveṣām agrajaḥ smṛtaḥ | diśāṃ ca pradiśāṃ cordhvaṃ dik pūrvā prathanā tathā ||
Vāyu said: “Among all mountains, Mahāmeru is remembered as the first-born and foremost. Likewise, among the directions and intermediate directions, the eastern quarter is regarded as primary—preeminent and original.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts an ordered hierarchy in the cosmos as preserved by tradition: just as Mahāmeru is held to be the foremost among mountains, the eastern direction is treated as the primary among directions. It frames ‘primacy’ as a recognized, inherited standard (smṛti) rather than a personal preference.
Vāyudeva is speaking and is describing cosmological precedence—identifying Mahāmeru as the first/foremost mountain and the East as the chief direction—likely to ground a discussion of orientation, auspiciousness, or ritual/normative order within the Ashvamedhika Parva context.