Shloka 18
Brahmacarya-Upāya: Jñāna, Śauca, and the Mind’s Role in Desire (शान्ति पर्व, अध्याय २०७)
मरीचि: कश्यपं तात पुत्रमग्रजमग्रज: । मानसं जनयामास तैजसं ब्रह्मवित्तमम्
Marīciḥ Kaśyapaṃ tāta putram agrajam agrajaḥ | mānasaṃ janayāmāsa taijasaṃ brahmavittamam ||
ભીષ્મે કહ્યું: પ્રિય તાત! અગ્રજ ઋષિઓમાં જ્યેષ્ઠ મરીચિએ માત્ર મનશક્તિથી કશ્યપ નામના પુત્રને ઉત્પન્ન કર્યો—જે તેજસ્વી અને બ્રહ્મવેત્તાઓમાં શ્રેષ્ઠ હતો।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the primacy of spiritual knowledge and inner power: Kaśyapa is praised as brahmavittama (foremost knower of Brahman), and his origin as mānasa (mind-born) underscores creation through tapas, purity, and concentrated consciousness rather than merely physical generation.
Bhīṣma is recounting a genealogical-cosmic lineage: among the primeval sages, Marīci is presented as senior, and he produces a distinguished son, Kaśyapa, described as radiant and supreme among Brahman-knowers—setting up the broader account of progenitors and the origins of beings.