Shloka 16
Hiraṇyakaśipu’s Austerities and Brahmā’s Boons
The Architecture of ‘Conditional Immortality’
न ददर्श प्रतिच्छन्नं वल्मीकतृणकीचकै: । पिपीलिकाभिराचीर्णं मेदस्त्वङ्मांसशोणितम् ॥ १५ ॥ तपन्तं तपसा लोकान् यथाभ्रापिहितं रविम् । विलक्ष्य विस्मित: प्राह हसंस्तं हंसवाहन: ॥ १६ ॥
na dadarśa praticchannaṁ valmīka-tṛṇa-kīcakaiḥ pipīlikābhir ācīrṇaṁ medas-tvaṅ-māṁsa-śoṇitam
હંસવાહન શ્રીબ્રહ્મા દેવતાઓ સાથે પ્રથમ તો હિરણ્યકશિપુને જોઈ ન શક્યા; કારણ કે તેનું શરીર વલ્મીક, ઘાસ અને વાંસની કાંટીઓથી ઢંકાયેલું હતું અને લાંબા સમયના તપથી ચીંટીઓએ તેની ત્વચા, મેદ, માંસ અને રક્ત સુધી ખાઈ લીધું હતું. પછી તેઓ તેને વાદળથી ઢંકાયેલા સૂર્ય સમાન, તપસ્યાથી લોકોને તપાવતો જોઈ આશ્ચર્યચકિત થયા; બ્રહ્મા હસતાં હસતાં તેને સંબોધ્યા।
The living entity can live merely by his own power, without the help of skin, marrow, bone, blood and so on, because it is said, asaṅgo hy ayaṁ puruṣaḥ — the living entity has nothing to do with the material covering. Hiraṇyakaśipu performed a severe type of tapasya, austerity, for many long years. Indeed, it is said that he performed the tapasya for one hundred heavenly years. Since one day of the demigods equals six of our months, certainly this was a very long time. By nature’s own way, his body had been almost consumed by earthworms, ants and other parasites, and therefore even Brahmā was at first unable to see him. Later, however, Brahmā could ascertain where Hiraṇyakaśipu was, and Brahmā was struck with wonder to see Hiraṇyakaśipu’s extraordinary power to execute tapasya. Anyone would conclude that Hiraṇyakaśipu was dead because his body was covered in so many ways, but Lord Brahmā, the supreme living being in this universe, could understand that Hiraṇyakaśipu was alive but covered by material elements.
FAQs
This verse describes how Hiraṇyakaśipu’s austerity was so severe and prolonged that his body became covered by an anthill and overrun by ants, showing an extreme level of bodily neglect for a desired boon.
Because Hiraṇyakaśipu was completely concealed by an anthill, grasses, and bamboo shoots, and his body was infested with ants—making him unrecognizable at first glance.
It cautions that intense effort without pure purpose can lead to self-harm; discipline should be guided by wisdom and devotion rather than ego-driven ambition.