Shloka 7

प्रजाविसर्ग-तत्त्वनिर्णयः | Cosmogony of Elemental Emergence

Bharadvāja–Bhṛgu Dialogue

Devanagari script

पुत्र बवाच एवमभ्याहते लोके समन्तात्‌ परिवारिते । अमोघासु पतन्तीषु कि धीर इव भाषसे

Transliteration

putra uvāca—evam abhyāhate loke samantāt parivārite | amoghāsu patantīṣu kiṁ dhīra iva bhāṣase ||

Translation

Le fils dit : « Père, lorsque ce monde est ainsi frappé et cerné de toutes parts—lorsque les forces infaillibles (du Temps) ne cessent de s’abattre—comment peux-tu encore parler comme si tu demeurais calme et inébranlable ? »

Word by Word

• {'putra uvāca': 'the son said', 'evam': 'thus, in this manner', 'abhyāhata': 'struck, smitten, afflicted', 'loka': 'world

• the human condition', 'samantāt': 'on all sides, everywhere', 'parivārita': 'surrounded, enclosed, besieged', 'amoghāsu': 'unfailing, unerring (forces/events)', 'patantīṣu': 'while falling/descending

• while repeatedly coming upon (us)', 'kim': 'why? how?', 'dhīra': 'steadfast, composed, wise', 'iva': 'as if, like', 'bhāṣase': 'you speak'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• son (unnamed interlocutor)
• loka (the world)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a moral-philosophical challenge: since the world is relentlessly afflicted by the inescapable descent of time and mortality, how can one maintain (or claim) composure? It sets up the teaching that true steadiness is tested precisely amid inevitable decay and loss.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bhishma’s discourse, an unnamed son addresses his father, pointing to the world’s condition—afflicted and surrounded by unavoidable forces—and questions the father’s calm manner of speaking, prompting a deeper reflection on endurance, wisdom, and the nature of time.