Shloka 12
Vītahavya’s Attainment of Brāhmaṇya (Vītahavya–Vipratva) | वीतहव्यस्य ब्राह्मण्यप्राप्तिः
काण्डपृष्ठिश्चिरं काल॑ तत्रैव परिवर्तते । ततस्तु त्रिशते काले लभते जपतामपि
Bhīṣma uvāca | kāṇḍapṛṣṭhiś ciraṃ kālaṃ tatraiva parivartate | tatas tu triśate kāle labhate japatām api |
‘काण्डपृष्ठ’ झाल्यावरही तो दीर्घकाळ तिथेच, त्याच योनीत फिरत राहतो. नंतर तीनशे काळ गेल्यावर तो जप करणाऱ्या ब्राह्मणाच्या घरी जन्म घेतो—जरी तो केवळ गायत्री-जप करत असला तरीही.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores karmic continuity and gradual uplift: after prolonged suffering in a lower birth, merit associated with sacred recitation (japa), even minimal such as Gāyatrī-japa, becomes a cause for obtaining a higher human birth in a Brahmin household.
Bhishma describes a being remaining for a very long time in the same womb/state, and after three hundred years passing, gaining rebirth connected with a Brahmin who practices japa—framed as a transition from a degraded condition toward a more dharmic human context.