Shloka 173
मार्तण्डस्यात्मजावेतौ संज्ञानासाविनिर्गतौ । नासत्य और दस्न--ये दोनों अश्विनीकुमारके नामसे प्रसिद्ध हैं। इनकी उत्पत्ति भगवान् सूर्यके वीर्यसे हुई है। ये अश्वरूपधारिणी संज्ञा देवीके नाकसे प्रकट हुऐ थे (ये सब मिलाकर तैंतीस देवता हैं)
mārtaṇḍasyātmajāv etau saṃjñānāsāvinirgatau | nāsatyau ca dasnau ca—etau dvāv aśvinīkumārau nāmnā prasiddhau | etayor utpattiḥ bhagavataḥ sūryasya vīryataḥ | aśvarūpadhāriṇyāḥ saṃjñādevyā nāsikāto nirgatāv iti | (ete sarve militvā trayastriṃśad devāḥ)
Bhīṣma berkata: “Keduanya adalah putra Mārtaṇḍa (Sang Surya), terlahir dari lubang hidung dewi Saṃjñā ketika ia mengambil wujud kuda betina. Mereka termasyhur sebagai Nāsatya dan Dasra—si kembar Aśvinī-kumāra; asal mereka dari daya benih Sang Surya. Dengan demikian mereka termasuk dalam hitungan tradisional tiga puluh tiga dewa.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage preserves a traditional Vedic genealogy: the Aśvin twins (Nāsatya and Dasra) are divine beings born from the Sun’s potency through Saṃjñā’s mare-form, and they belong to the canonical group of thirty-three gods—emphasizing continuity of sacred tradition and the ordered cosmology underlying dharma.
Bhīṣma is enumerating and identifying deities: he explains the names and birth-story of the Aśvinī-kumāras, stating that they emerged from Saṃjñā-devī’s nostrils while she had taken a mare’s form, and that their father is Mārtaṇḍa (Sūrya).