Shloka 14
Tapas as the Root of Attainment (तपः—साधनमूलप्रशंसा)
“तात! क्या पवनदेव तुमसे किसी कारणवश विशेष प्रसन्न रहते हैं अथवा वे तुम्हारे सुहृद हैं, जिससे इस वनमें सदा तुम्हारी निश्चितरूपसे रक्षा करते हैं ।। भगवान् पवन: स्थानाद् वृक्षानुच्चावचानपि । पर्वतानां च शिखराण्याचालयति वेगवान्,“भगवान् वायु इतने वेगशाली हैं कि छोटे-बड़े वृक्षोंको कौन कहे, पर्वतोंके शिखरोंको भी अपने स्थानसे हिला देते हैं
tāta! kiṃ vāyudevaḥ tvayā kenacid kāraṇena viśeṣataḥ prasannaḥ, athavā sa te suhṛt, yena’smin vane sadā tvāṃ niścitarūpeṇa rakṣati? bhagavān pavanaḥ sthānād vṛkṣān uccāvacān api, parvatānāṃ ca śikharāṇy ācalayati vegavān.
Bhīṣma said: “Dear child, is the Wind-god for some reason especially pleased with you, or is he your well-wisher—so that in this forest he continually protects you with certainty? For the blessed Wind, swift in force, can shake even trees of every size from their place, and can even set the very peaks of mountains trembling.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights divine protection and the ethical attitude of humility: when extraordinary safety or success appears in a perilous setting, it may be due to unseen grace or a powerful well-wisher. It also frames natural forces as expressions of divine potency, encouraging reverence rather than arrogance.
Bhishma addresses a younger person and wonders why the Wind-god seems especially favorable—protecting him constantly in the forest. To underscore the point, Bhishma describes Vayu’s immense power: he can uproot or shake trees of all sizes and even make mountain summits tremble.