Shloka 3
एक: स्वयम्भूर्भगवानाद्यो ब्रह्मा सनातन: । ब्रह्मण: सप्त वै पुत्रा महात्मान: स्वयम्भुव:,एकमात्र सनातन भगवान् स्वयम्भू ब्रह्मा सबके आदि हैं। स्वयम्भू ब्रह्माके सात महात्मा पुत्र बताये गये हैं
ekaḥ svayambhūr bhagavān ādyo brahmā sanātanaḥ | brahmaṇaḥ sapta vai putrā mahātmānaḥ svayambhuvaḥ ||
Bhīṣma said: “The one self-existent Lord—Brahmā, the primordial and eternal source—stands at the beginning of all. From that Brahmā are declared seven great-souled sons, born of the Self-born.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse establishes a foundational cosmological premise: a single self-existent, primordial Brahmā is the origin, and from him arise seven great progenitors. By anchoring discussion in origins and lineage, it implies that dharma and right conduct are best understood through the ordered structure of creation and the authoritative transmission of knowledge.
In Śānti Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira. Here he begins (or continues) a doctrinal exposition by stating the primordial status of Svayambhū Brahmā and introducing the theme of Brahmā’s seven great-souled sons, setting up a broader account of cosmic and ethical order.