Shloka 24
बक-गौतमाख्यानम् / The Baka–Gautama Account
On Gratitude and Friendship Ethics
ऋषयो वालखिलल््याश्षु प्रभासा: सिकतास्तथा । घृतपा: सोमवायव्या वैश्वानरमरीचिपा:
ṛṣayo vālakhilyāś ca prabhāsāḥ sikatās tathā | ghṛtapāḥ somavāyavyā vaiśvānaramarīcipāḥ ||
भीष्म ने कहा—वालखिल्य, प्रभास और सिकत नामक ऋषिगण भी थे; घृतप, सोमप, वायव्य, वैश्वानरप और मरीचिप—ये भी। ये सब महान तपस्वी ब्रह्मा की विधि के अनुसार, अपने-अपने नियमों के अनुरूप, सनातन धर्म का पालन करने लगे।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that diverse ascetic disciplines—symbolized by different modes of subsistence (ghee, Soma, air, fire-principle, sunbeams)—can all be valid when aligned with Brahmā’s ordinance and directed toward the observance of sanātana-dharma, the enduring moral-cosmic order.
In Bhīṣma’s discourse in the Śānti Parva, he enumerates various classes of sages and austerity-practitioners, presenting them as exemplars who, under Brahmā’s command, uphold eternal dharma through their respective forms of tapas and disciplined living.