Shloka 5
अध्याय २०८ — इन्द्रियनिग्रहः, सत्याहिंसात्मकवाक्, कर्मफलविवेकः
Restraint of the Senses, Non-harming Truthful Speech, and Discernment of Karmic Consequence
सप्तब्रह्माण इत्येते पुराणे निश्चयं गता: । अत ऊर्ध्व॑ प्रवक्ष्यामि सवनिव प्रजापतीन्,पुराणमें ये सात ब्रह्मा निश्चित किये गये हैं। अब मैं समस्त प्रजापतियोंका वर्णन आरम्भ करता हूँ
sapta-brahmāṇa ity ete purāṇe niścayaṃ gatāḥ | ata ūrdhvaṃ pravakṣyāmi sarvān iva prajāpātīn ||
भीष्म म्हणाले—पुराणांत हे ‘सप्त ब्रह्मा’ म्हणून निश्चयाने मान्य झाले आहेत. आता पुढे मी सर्व प्रजापतींचे वर्णन करतो.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Bhīṣma’s teaching as grounded in received tradition: certain cosmological classifications (like the ‘seven Brahmās’) are treated as settled, and on that basis he proceeds to a systematic account of the Prajāpatis—highlighting the importance of authoritative lineage and ordered knowledge in dharma-instruction.
Bhīṣma signals a transition in his discourse: having referenced an established Purāṇic conclusion about the ‘seven Brahmās,’ he now begins a new section that will enumerate and explain the Prajāpatis (progenitor figures) as part of a broader cosmological and genealogical exposition in the Śānti Parva.