Shloka 18
Brahmacarya-Upāya: Jñāna, Śauca, and the Mind’s Role in Desire (शान्ति पर्व, अध्याय २०७)
मरीचि: कश्यपं तात पुत्रमग्रजमग्रज: । मानसं जनयामास तैजसं ब्रह्मवित्तमम्,तात! इन छः: पुत्रोंमें सबसे बड़े थे मरीचि। उन्होंने अपने मनसे ही ब्रह्मवेत्ताओंमें श्रेष्ठ कश्यप नामक श्रेष्ठ पुत्रको जन्म दिया, जो बड़े ही तेजस्वी हैं
Marīciḥ Kaśyapaṃ tāta putram agrajam agrajaḥ | mānasaṃ janayāmāsa taijasaṃ brahmavittamam ||
Bhīṣma said: “O dear one, Marīci—the eldest among the elder sages—brought forth, by the power of his mind alone, a son named Kaśyapa, radiant in splendor and foremost among the knowers of Brahman.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the primacy of spiritual knowledge and inner power: Kaśyapa is praised as brahmavittama (foremost knower of Brahman), and his origin as mānasa (mind-born) underscores creation through tapas, purity, and concentrated consciousness rather than merely physical generation.
Bhīṣma is recounting a genealogical-cosmic lineage: among the primeval sages, Marīci is presented as senior, and he produces a distinguished son, Kaśyapa, described as radiant and supreme among Brahman-knowers—setting up the broader account of progenitors and the origins of beings.