Shloka 15
बक-गौतमाख्यानम् / The Baka–Gautama Account
On Gratitude and Friendship Ethics
तत: शरीरं लोकस्थं स्थापयित्वा पितामह: । जनयामास भगवान् पुत्रानुत्तमतेजस:
tataḥ śarīraṁ lokasthaṁ sthāpayitvā pitāmahaḥ | janayāmāsa bhagavān putrān uttama-tejasaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Thereafter, the Grandsire (Brahmā), having established a body suited to the world, brought forth sons of supreme radiance. Assuming a worldly form, the Blessed Lord generated the great sages—Marīci, Atri, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasiṣṭha, and Aṅgiras—as well as Rudra, endowed by nature with sovereign power.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents creation as a dharmic, orderly process: Brahmā assumes a form appropriate to the manifested world and produces radiant progeny—especially sages—who become instruments for sustaining knowledge, ritual, and moral order, alongside Rudra who embodies formidable divine power.
Bhīṣma describes a stage of cosmic genesis: Brahmā, taking on a worldly body, generates eminent mind-born sons—key ṛṣis (Marīci, Atri, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasiṣṭha, Aṅgiras) and Rudra—thereby populating the cosmos with foundational beings who will guide and uphold the world.