Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 17
द्रष्टव्यं नैतदेवं हि कथं जायेदजो हि सः । स्मृतमाकाशमण्डं तु तस्माज्जात: पितामह:
draṣṭavyaṃ naitadevaṃ hi kathaṃ jāyed ajo hi saḥ | smṛtam ākāśamaṇḍaṃ tu tasmāj jātaḥ pitāmahaḥ ||
परंतु इसे इस प्रकार नहीं समझना चाहिए; क्योंकि जो अजन्मा है, वह कैसे जन्म ले सकता है? ‘अण्ड’ यहाँ महाकाश का नाम है; उसी से पितामह प्रकट हुए—इसी अर्थ में वे ‘अण्डज’ कहे गए हैं।
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches careful interpretation of traditional epithets: an “unborn” principle cannot literally be said to be born; terms like ‘egg-born’ are to be understood figuratively, pointing to manifestation from the cosmic expanse (ākāśa) rather than biological birth.
Arjuna clarifies a cosmological description about Pitāmaha (Brahmā), rejecting a literal reading and explaining that the ‘egg’ (aṇḍa) is intended as the vast space itself, from which Brahmā is said to appear.