Shloka 29
Adhyāya 57: Tapas–Dāna Phala
On the Fruits of Austerity and Giving
इच्छयैष तपोवीर्यादन्यॉललोकान् सृजेदपि । ब्राह्मणा एव जायेरन् पुण्यवाग्बुद्धिकर्मण:
icchayaiva tapovīryād anyān lokān sṛjed api | brāhmaṇā eva jāyeran puṇya-vāg-buddhi-karmaṇaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Par la seule volonté, grâce à la puissance née de l’austérité, il pourrait même créer d’autres mondes ; et dans ces mondes ne naîtraient que des brāhmaṇas, des hommes dont la parole, l’intelligence et les actes sont tous purs et méritoires.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the extraordinary potency attributed to tapas (austerity): spiritual discipline can become so powerful that it is imagined as capable of world-creation. Ethically, it elevates the ideal of purity in speech, intellect, and action—presented here as the defining excellence of brāhmaṇas.
Bhīṣma, in his instruction on dharma, praises the transformative power of ascetic merit. He describes an idealized outcome of such power: the creation of realms populated by people of exemplary virtue—brāhmaṇas whose words, thoughts, and deeds are all righteous.