Shloka 4
स ता: पिबन् क्षीरमिव नातृप्पत महामना: । अपूरयन्महौघेन महीं सर्वा च पार्थिव
sa tāḥ piban kṣīram iva nātṛppata mahāmanāḥ | apūrayan mahaughena mahīṃ sarvāṃ ca pārthiva ||
Le sage à la grande âme but ces eaux comme on boit du lait, sans pourtant être rassasié. Puis, ô roi, en déchaînant un flot immense, il remplit de nouveau la terre entière. Cet épisode souligne la puissance prodigieuse du tapas d’un rishi brahmane et l’idée morale qu’une force immense, conduite par la retenue et le dessein, peut à la fois retirer et rendre au monde ses ressources.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the immense efficacy of tapas and brahminical spiritual power: it can deplete even the world’s waters, yet it can also restore them. Ethically, it suggests that true power is not mere consumption but the capacity to re-establish balance and welfare.
A great sage drinks up the waters of the earth without being satiated; afterward he causes a mighty flood or stream to flow and thereby refills the entire earth with water, narrated to a king as an illustration of extraordinary ascetic potency.