Shloka 20
बक-गौतमाख्यानम् / The Baka–Gautama Account
On Gratitude and Friendship Ethics
उद्धिद: स्वेदजाश्वैव साण्डजाश्न जरायुजा: । जज्ञे तात जगत् सर्व तथा स्थावरजड्भमम्
udbhijjaḥ svedajāś caiva aṇḍajāś ca jarāyujāḥ | jajñe tāta jagat sarvaṃ tathā sthāvara-jaṅgamam ||
Bhīṣma said: “From them arose all beings—those born from sprouts (plants), from sweat or moisture, from eggs, and from the womb. Thus, dear one, the entire world came into existence, comprising both the immovable and the moving creation.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a traditional Indian taxonomy of living beings by modes of birth—sprout-born, moisture-born, egg-born, and womb-born—emphasizing that the whole cosmos (both immobile and mobile life) is encompassed within an ordered creation.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction during the Śānti Parva, he describes how the entire world came into being, summarizing creation as the emergence of all creatures in four broad categories, culminating in the totality of the moving and unmoving universe.