Shloka 19
बक-गौतमाख्यानम् / The Baka–Gautama Account
On Gratitude and Friendship Ethics
पतत्रिमृगमीनाश्च प्लवड्राश्न महोरगा: । तथा पक्षिगणा: सर्वे जलस्थलविचारिण:
patatrimṛgamīnāś ca plavaḍrāśn mahoragāḥ | tathā pakṣigaṇāḥ sarve jalasthalavicāriṇaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “Birds, beasts, and fishes; aquatic creatures and great serpents; and likewise all flocks of birds that move between water and land—these classes of beings came forth in the course of creation.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the comprehensive scope of creation—multiple classes of beings arise within an ordered cosmos—supporting a dharmic attitude of respect and restraint toward all life forms.
Bhīṣma is describing categories of creatures—birds, animals, fish, aquatic beings, great serpents, and birds that range over water and land—as part of a broader account of how the living world comes into being.