Shloka 45

Indrajit’s Binding, Restoration by Viśalyā, and Counsel Restraining Rāvaṇa (Āraṇyaka Parva 273)

Devanagari script

शून्यं दृष्टया जगत्‌ कृत्स्नं मानसानात्मन: समान्‌ | ततो मरीचिप्रमुखान्‌ महर्षीनसृजन्नव,“उस नाभिकमलसे चतुर्मुख ब्रह्माजीका प्रादुर्भाव हुआ। उस कमलपर बैठे हुए लोकपितामह ब्रह्माजीने सहसा सम्पूर्ण जगत्‌को शून्य देखकर अपने मानसपुत्रके रूपमें अपने ही-जैसे प्रभावशाली मरीचि आदि नौ महर्षियोंको उत्पन्न किया

Transliteration

śūnyaṃ dṛṣṭvā jagat kṛtsnaṃ mānasān ātmanaḥ samān | tato marīcipramukhān maharṣīn asṛjan nava ||

Translation

Bhīmasena said: Seeing the entire world as empty, Brahmā—bringing forth mind-born sons equal to himself in power—then created nine great seers beginning with Marīci. The passage evokes the ethical idea that order and guidance arise when a responsible creator responds to emptiness and disorder by generating wise progenitors to establish the world’s continuity and dharma.

Word by Word

• {'śūnyam': 'empty, void', 'dṛṣṭvā': 'having seen', 'jagat': 'the world', 'kṛtsnam': 'entire, whole', 'mānasān (putrān)': 'mind-born (sons)

• beings produced by mental will', 'ātmanaḥ': 'of himself', 'samān': 'equal, similar (in nature/power)', 'tataḥ': 'then, thereafter', 'marīci-pramukhān': 'beginning with Marīci', 'maharṣīn': 'great seers', 'asṛjat': 'created, produced', 'nava': 'nine'}

Speaker

भीमसेन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīmasena
• Brahmā (Caturmukha, Lokapitāmaha)
• Marīci
• Nine Maharṣis (mind-born sages)
• Nābhi-kamala (lotus from the navel)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

When confronted with emptiness or disorder, the proper response is constructive creation guided by wisdom—symbolized by Brahmā generating great seers who become carriers of dharma and continuity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīma recounts a cosmogonic moment: Brahmā, seeing the world as void, produces nine powerful mind-born sages starting with Marīci, establishing the beginnings of ordered creation and spiritual lineage.