Shloka 19
Ākiṃcanya–Tyāga Upadeśa
The Instruction on Non-ownership and Renunciation
नाडीजड्घ इति ख्यातो दयितो ब्रह्मण: सखा । बकराजो महाप्राज्ञ: कश्यपस्यात्मसम्भव:,वह महर्षि कश्यपका पुत्र और ब्रह्माजीका प्रिय सखा था। उसका नाम था नाडीजड़। वह बगुलोंका राजा और महाबुद्धिमान् था
nāḍījaḍgha iti khyāto dayito brahmaṇaḥ sakhā | bakarājo mahāprājñaḥ kaśyapasyātmasambhavaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “There was one renowned as Nāḍījaḍgha—dear to Brahmā and counted as his friend. He was the king of cranes, a man of great intelligence, and a son born of the sage Kaśyapa himself.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse sets up an ethical exemplum by establishing the protagonist’s credentials—wisdom, noble lineage, and proximity to Brahmā—so that the ensuing conduct and its consequences can be read as a serious lesson on dharma rather than a trivial tale.
Bhīṣma introduces a key figure named Nāḍījaḍgha, describing him as Brahmā’s dear friend and as the wise ‘king of cranes,’ born in the lineage of the sage Kaśyapa—an opening that prepares the listener for a moral narrative involving him.