Shloka 12
बक-गौतमाख्यानम् / The Baka–Gautama Account
On Gratitude and Friendship Ethics
तमसा<5<वृतमस्पर्शमतिगम्भीरदर्शनम् । निःशब्दं चाप्रमेयं च तत्र जज्ञे पितामह:
tamasāvṛtam asparśam atigambhīradarśanam | niḥśabdaṃ cāprameyaṃ ca tatra jajñe pitāmahaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Tout était enveloppé de ténèbres ; ni le toucher ni le son ne pouvaient être perçus. Cette unique étendue océanique paraissait d’une profondeur insondable et sans limite mesurable. Dans cette immobilité incommensurable se manifesta le Grand-Père, Brahmā. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames creation as arising from an ungraspable, sense-transcending condition: darkness, silence, and immeasurability. It suggests that the origin of ordered manifestation (Brahmā as creator) emerges from a state beyond ordinary perception and measurement, emphasizing humility before the limits of the senses and intellect.
Bhīṣma describes the pre-creation condition: everything is covered in darkness, with no sound or tactile experience, and the vast expanse appears profoundly deep and without limit. In that immeasurable stillness, Brahmā (called Pitāmaha, “Grandfather”) comes into being/appears.