Shloka 44
अग्नीषोमोत्पत्तिः
Agni–Soma Origin and the Brahmāgnīṣomīya Doctrine
येन वेगवता रुग्णा रूक्षेण रुवता नगान् | वायुना सहिता मेघास्ते भवन्ति बलाहका:
yena vegavatā rugṇā rūkṣeṇa ruvatā nagān | vāyunā sahitā meghās te bhavanti balāhakāḥ ||
Bhishma dit : «Par ce vent âpre et mugissant, prompt dans son élan, les montagnes sont ébranlées. Et lorsque les nuées sont rassemblées et poussées par ce vent, on les appelle des nuages “balāhaka”.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses vivid natural imagery to define and classify a powerful wind by its observable effects—shaking mountains and driving clouds—illustrating a didactic method: knowledge is grounded in characteristics (lakṣaṇa) and consequences.
In Bhishma’s instructional discourse in the Shanti Parva, he describes a particular fierce wind and explains how clouds, when borne along by that wind, are designated ‘balāhaka’—as part of a broader explanation of natural/cosmic categories.