बक-गौतमाख्यानम् / The Baka–Gautama Account
On Gratitude and Friendship Ethics
तत: शरीरं लोकस्थं स्थापयित्वा पितामह: । जनयामास भगवान् पुत्रानुत्तमतेजस:
tataḥ śarīraṁ lokasthaṁ sthāpayitvā pitāmahaḥ | janayāmāsa bhagavān putrān uttama-tejasaḥ ||
Bhīṣma dit : «Ensuite, le Grand-Père (Brahmā), ayant établi un corps convenant au monde, engendra des fils d’une suprême splendeur. Revêtant une forme terrestre, le Bienheureux fit naître les grands sages — Marīci, Atri, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasiṣṭha et Aṅgiras — ainsi que Rudra, doté par nature d’un pouvoir souverain.»
भीष्म उवाच
The verse presents creation as a dharmic, orderly process: Brahmā assumes a form appropriate to the manifested world and produces radiant progeny—especially sages—who become instruments for sustaining knowledge, ritual, and moral order, alongside Rudra who embodies formidable divine power.
Bhīṣma describes a stage of cosmic genesis: Brahmā, taking on a worldly body, generates eminent mind-born sons—key ṛṣis (Marīci, Atri, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasiṣṭha, Aṅgiras) and Rudra—thereby populating the cosmos with foundational beings who will guide and uphold the world.