Shloka 17
द्रष्टव्यं नैतदेवं हि कथं जायेदजो हि सः । स्मृतमाकाशमण्डं तु तस्माज्जात: पितामह:
draṣṭavyaṃ naitadevaṃ hi kathaṃ jāyed ajo hi saḥ | smṛtam ākāśamaṇḍaṃ tu tasmāj jātaḥ pitāmahaḥ ||
Arjuna dit : «Il ne faut pas l’entendre ainsi au sens littéral. Comment celui qui est non-né pourrait-il être dit né ? L’expression “né d’un œuf” n’est ici qu’une désignation figurée : l’immense étendue de l’espace est appelée “œuf”, et de là se manifeste le Grand-Père (Brahmā). C’est en ce seul sens qu’on le dit “né de l’œuf”.»
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches careful interpretation of traditional epithets: an “unborn” principle cannot literally be said to be born; terms like ‘egg-born’ are to be understood figuratively, pointing to manifestation from the cosmic expanse (ākāśa) rather than biological birth.
Arjuna clarifies a cosmological description about Pitāmaha (Brahmā), rejecting a literal reading and explaining that the ‘egg’ (aṇḍa) is intended as the vast space itself, from which Brahmā is said to appear.