Shloka 26
तात! उसी तपस्यासे उद्दीप्त हुई महात्मा व्यासजीकी ये जटाएँ आज भी अग्निके समान प्रकाशित हो रही हैं ।। एवंविधेन तपसा तस्य भकत्या च भारत | महेश्वर: प्रसन्नात्मा चकार मनसा मतिम्,भारत! उनकी ऐसी तपस्या और भक्ति देखकर महादेवजी बड़े प्रसन्न हुए और उन्होंने मन-ही-मन उन्हें अभीष्ट वर देनेका विचार किया
Tāta! usī tapasyāse uddīpta huī mahātmā Vyāsajī kī ye jaṭāẽ āja bhī agni ke samāna prakāśita ho rahī haĩ. Evaṁvidhena tapasā tasya bhaktyā ca Bhārata, Maheśvaraḥ prasannātmā cakāra manasā matim, Bhārata! (tasmai) abhīṣṭa-vara-pradāne.
Bhishma said: “Dear child, even today these matted locks of the great sage Vyasa shine like fire, kindled by that very austerity. O Bharata, seeing such austerity and devotion in him, Maheshvara (Shiva) became deeply pleased and, within his own mind, resolved to grant him the boon he desired.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sustained austerity (tapas) joined with sincere devotion (bhakti) generates spiritual potency and attracts divine favor; inner purity and disciplined effort are portrayed as worthy causes for grace and the fulfillment of righteous desires.
Bhishma describes Vyasa’s extraordinary ascetic power—symbolized by his matted locks shining like fire—and explains that Shiva, pleased by Vyasa’s tapas and devotion, inwardly decides to grant him the boon he seeks.