Shloka 15
Śrī–Indra–Bali Saṃvāda: The Departure and Fourfold Placement of Lakṣmī
तस्य पञ्चशिख: शिष्यो मानुष्या पयसा भृतः । ब्राह्मणी कपिला नाम काचिदासीत् कुटुम्बिनी,उन्हींके शिष्य पंचशिख थे, जो मानवी स्त्रीके दूधसे पले थे। कपिला नामवाली कोई कुटुम्बिनी ब्राह्मणी थी। उसी स्त्रीके पुत्रभावको प्राप्त होकर वे उसके स्तनोंका दूध पीते थे; अतः कपिलाका पुत्र कहलानेके कारण कापिलेय नामसे उनकी प्रसिद्धि हुई। उन्होंने नैप्ठिक (ब्रह्ममें निष्ठा रखनेवाली) बुद्धि प्राप्त की थी
tasya pañcaśikhaḥ śiṣyo mānuṣyā payasā bhṛtaḥ | brāhmaṇī kapilā nāma kācid āsīt kuṭumbinī ||
Bhishma said: “He had a disciple named Pañcaśikha, who was reared on the milk of a human woman. There was a Brahmin householder woman named Kapilā. Having come to be regarded as her son, he drank from her breasts; therefore, being known as Kapilā’s son, he became famous by the name Kāpileya. He had attained a steadfast, renunciant intellect—fixed in Brahman.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how spiritual stature is grounded in inner realization and steadfastness (naiṣṭhikī buddhi, brahma-niṣṭhā), not merely in birth. Even a disciple’s social identity (being called Kāpileya) is presented as secondary to his firm orientation toward Brahman.
Bhishma introduces Pañcaśikha as a disciple associated with Kapilā, a Brahmin householder woman who nursed him. Because he was treated as her son and fed at her breast, he became known by the patronymic Kāpileya; the narration then notes his attainment of a steadfast, Brahman-centered intellect.