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 ||
ಆದರೆ ಇದನ್ನು ಅಕ್ಷರಶಃ ಹೀಗೇ ತಿಳಿಯಬಾರದು; ಏಕೆಂದರೆ ಅಜನ್ಮನಾದವನು ಹೇಗೆ ಹುಟ್ಟುತ್ತಾನೆ? ಇಲ್ಲಿ ‘ಅಂಡ’ ಎಂದರೆ ಮಹಾಕಾಶ; ಅದರಿಂದ ಪಿತಾಮಹನು ಪ್ರಕಟನಾದನು—ಆ ಅರ್ಥದಲ್ಲೇ ಅವನು ‘ಅಂಡಜ’ ಎಂದು ಕರೆಯಲ್ಪಡುತ್ತಾನೆ.
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.