Shloka 12
Vītahavya’s Attainment of Brāhmaṇya (Vītahavya–Vipratva) | वीतहव्यस्य ब्राह्मण्यप्राप्तिः
काण्डपृष्ठिश्चिरं काल॑ तत्रैव परिवर्तते । ततस्तु त्रिशते काले लभते जपतामपि
Bhīṣma uvāca | kāṇḍapṛṣṭhiś ciraṃ kālaṃ tatraiva parivartate | tatas tu triśate kāle labhate japatām api |
Bhīṣma dit : «Longtemps, il demeure là même, tournant et retournant dans cette même matrice. Puis, lorsque trois cents ans se sont écoulés, il naît dans la maison d’un brahmane qui pratique le japa, fût-ce seulement la récitation du Gāyatrī.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores karmic continuity and gradual uplift: after prolonged suffering in a lower birth, merit associated with sacred recitation (japa), even minimal such as Gāyatrī-japa, becomes a cause for obtaining a higher human birth in a Brahmin household.
Bhishma describes a being remaining for a very long time in the same womb/state, and after three hundred years passing, gaining rebirth connected with a Brahmin who practices japa—framed as a transition from a degraded condition toward a more dharmic human context.