Shloka 5
Āpad-dharma and Discernment in Livelihood (आपद्धर्मे विज्ञानबलम्)
षष्टिं वर्षसहस्राणि सो5तप्यद् गौतमस्तप: । तमुग्रतपसा युक्त भावितं सुमहामुनिम्
ṣaṣṭiṁ varṣa-sahasrāṇi so 'tapyad gautamas tapaḥ | tam ugra-tapasā yuktaṁ bhāvitaṁ su-mahā-munim |
Bhīṣma said: For sixty thousand years Gautama performed austerities. Endowed with fierce ascetic discipline, that great sage—purified and spiritually matured by his tapas—stood as an exemplar of self-restraint and inner power. (In the ensuing narrative, Yama, the guardian of moral order, comes to behold the accomplished ascetic.)
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sustained tapas (disciplined austerity) purifies and matures a person, generating inner authority and moral force; such self-restraint is presented as a foundation for dharma.
Bhīṣma describes Gautama’s extraordinarily long austerities and his resulting spiritual refinement, setting the stage for the next event in which Yama (as guardian of dharma) comes to meet or observe the accomplished sage.