Shloka 16

Puruṣaikatva-vyākhyāna: The One Virāṭ Puruṣa and the Many ‘Puruṣas’

Rudra–Brahmā Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

अद्यप्रभृति ते राजन्नाकाशे विहता गतिः । अस्मच्छापाभिघातेन महीं भिकत्त्वा प्रवेक्ष्यसि,“राजन! तुमने यह जानकर भी कि अजका अर्थ अन्न है, देवताओंका पक्ष लिया है; इसलिये स्वर्गसे नीचे गिर जाओ। आजसे तुम्हारी आकाशमें विचरनेकी शक्ति नष्ट हो गयी। हमारे शापके आघातसे तुम पृथ्वीको भेदकर पातालमें प्रवेश करोगे

Transliteration

adyaprabhṛti te rājann ākāśe vihatā gatiḥ | asmacchāpābhighātena mahīṃ bhittvā pravekṣyasi ||

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “From this day onward, O King, your power to move through the sky is destroyed. Struck by our curse, you will split the earth and enter the netherworld.”

Word by Word

• {'adyaprabhṛti': 'from today onward, henceforth', 'te': 'your', 'rājan': 'O king (vocative)', 'ākāśe': 'in the sky', 'vihatā': 'struck down, destroyed, obstructed', 'gatiḥ': 'movement, course, power of locomotion', 'asmacchāpa': 'our curse', 'abhighāta': 'blow, impact, stroke', 'mahīm': 'the earth', 'bhittvā': 'having split, having pierced', 'pravekṣyasi': 'you will enter'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• rājā (the addressed king)
• ākāśa (sky)
• mahī (earth)
• pātāla (netherworld, implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Knowing the truth yet supporting a biased or self-serving position leads to moral and practical downfall; the loss of “sky-movement” symbolizes the stripping of privilege and freedom through the force of ethical retribution.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma pronounces a curse upon a king: from that moment the king’s ability to travel in the sky is nullified, and he is destined to be driven beneath the earth into the netherworld as a direct result of the curse.