Shloka 16
ब्राह्मणपूजायां व्युष्टिः — Vyuṣṭi (Merit-Outcome) of Honoring Brāhmaṇas: Kṛṣṇa and Durvāsā
ततो नारायण तेजो व्रतचर्येन्धनोत्थितम् । वक्त्रान्नि:सृत्य कृष्णस्य वल्विरद्भुतकर्मण:
tato nārāyaṇa-tejo vrata-caryendhanotthitam | vaktrān niḥsṛtya kṛṣṇasya valvir adbhuta-karmaṇaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : « Alors l’énergie ardente de Nārāyaṇa—comme attisée par le combustible de l’observance austère des vœux—jaillit de la bouche de Kṛṣṇa, dont les actes sont prodigieux. Se manifestant sous forme de feu, elle se mit à brûler cette montagne avec ses arbres, ses lianes, ses fourrés, ses oiseaux, ses hardes de cerfs, ses bêtes féroces et ses serpents. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights tejas (spiritual potency) arising from disciplined vow-observance (vrata-caryā). It suggests that austerity and dharmic restraint are not merely private virtues but sources of transformative power, capable of manifesting as overwhelming force when aligned with the divine (Nārāyaṇa).
Bhīṣma narrates a miraculous event: Nārāyaṇa’s fiery energy, as if ignited by the ‘fuel’ of ascetic practice, emerges from Kṛṣṇa’s mouth and appears as fire, burning a mountain along with its vegetation and animal life, including birds, deer, fierce creatures, and serpents.