Shloka 20
Adhyāya 353 — Kathā-prāmāṇya (Authority of Transmission) and the Brāhmaṇa’s Ascetic Resolve
देवा: सर्वे मुनयः साधु शान्ता- स्त॑ प्राग्वंशे यज्ञभागैर्यजन्ते । अहं ब्रह्मा आद्य ईशः प्रजानां तस्माज्जातस्त्वं च मत्त: प्रसूत:
devāḥ sarve munayaḥ sādhu śāntās taṃ prāgvaṃśe yajñabhāgair yajante | ahaṃ brahmā ādya īśaḥ prajānāṃ tasmāj jātas tvaṃ ca mattaḥ prasūtaḥ ||
ビーシュマは言った。「すべての神々と、まことに寂静なる性質を備えた牟尼たちは、古き系譜においてその至上の存在を礼拝し、祭祀において定められた供分を捧げて崇める。われは梵天ブラフマー、衆生の原初の主である。われはその最高のプルシャより生まれ、そしてわれより汝らもまた生み出されたのだ。」
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse grounds religious practice and cosmic order in a single Supreme source: even gods and tranquil sages worship Him through sacrificial offerings, and Brahmā himself is presented as born from that Highest Person—establishing a hierarchy where devotion and ritual ultimately point to the Supreme.
In Bhīṣma’s instruction in the Śānti Parva, he speaks authoritatively about the origin of beings and the proper object of worship, stating that the gods and sages worship the Supreme through yajña, and describing a creation-lineage in which Brahmā arises from the Supreme and another being is said to arise from Brahmā.