Shloka 12
Gopradāna-phalasaṃprāpti: Nāciketa’s Vision of Vaivasvata’s Realms (गोप्रदानफलसम्प्राप्तिः — नाचिकेतोपाख्यानम्)
नीरजातश्न भगवान् सोमो ग्रहगणेश्वर: । अमृतं च सुधा चैव स्वाहा चैव स्वधा तथा
bhīṣma uvāca | nīrājātaś ca bhagavān somo grahagaṇeśvaraḥ | amṛtaṃ ca sudhā caiva svāhā caiva svadhā tathā |
Bhishma disse: “O venerável Soma—senhor entre as hostes dos astros—nasceu da água. Da água também surgem o amṛta e a sudhā, e as fórmulas sagradas svāhā e svadhā. Por isso a água é louvada como fonte primordial, que sustenta a ordem ritual e nutre a vida.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Water is presented as a primordial source: it gives rise to Soma (the Moon) and to key ritual and life-sustaining principles (amṛta/sudhā and the utterances svāhā/svadhā), implying that honoring and protecting water supports both cosmic order and dharma.
In Bhishma’s instruction to Yudhishthira within the Anushasana Parva, he enumerates what originates from water, using cosmological and ritual examples to emphasize water’s sanctity and its role in sustaining beings and sacrificial tradition.