Shloka 13
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament and Kṛṣṇa’s Rudra-Cosmogony Explanation (सौप्तिक पर्व, अध्याय १७)
हरिकेशस्तथेत्युक्त्वा भूतानां दोषदर्शिवान् | दीर्घकालं तपस्तेपे मग्नो5म्भसि महातपा:,सो<ब्रवीत् पितरं दृष्टवा गिरिशं सुप्तमम्भसि । यदि मे नाग्रजो<स्त्यन्यस्ततः स्रक्ष्याम्यहं प्रजा: उस विराट पुरुष या स्रष्टाने महादेवजीको जलमें सोया देख अपने पिता ब्रह्माजीसे कहा--“यदि दूसरा कोई मुझसे ज्येष्ठ न हो तो मैं प्रजाकी सृष्टि करूँगा”
harikeśas tathety uktvā bhūtānāṁ doṣa-darśivān | dīrgha-kālaṁ tapas tepe magno ’mbhasi mahā-tapāḥ | so ’bravīt pitaraṁ dṛṣṭvā giriśaṁ suptam ambhasi | yadi me nāgrajo ’sty anyas tataḥ sraṣṭāmy ahaṁ prajāḥ ||
Disse Vaiśampāyana: “Harikeśa, tendo assentido com ‘assim seja’ e sendo aquele que discernia as falhas dos seres, praticou austeridades por longo tempo, imerso nas águas, grande asceta. Então, ao ver seu pai e contemplar Giriśa (Śiva) adormecido nas águas, disse: ‘Se não há outro mais velho do que eu, então criarei as criaturas.’”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links creative authority with rightful precedence and inner discipline: before claiming the power to generate beings, the speaker grounds his claim in tapas (austerity) and in the question of whether any elder authority exists. It reflects the ethical idea that power—especially creative or governing power—should be exercised only with legitimacy and self-mastery.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Harikeśa undertakes long austerities while submerged in water. Afterward, he sees his father (understood in the given gloss as Brahmā) and sees Śiva (Giriśa) asleep in the waters, and he declares that if no one is senior to him, he will proceed to create living beings (prajā).