Shloka 6
प्रजापतयः देवगणाश्च दिशि-दिशि स्थिताः ऋषयः
Prajāpatis, Deva-Groups, and the Ṛṣis Assigned to the Directions
मही महीजा: पवनो<न््तरिक्ष॑ जलौकसश्लैव जलं दिवं च । दिवौकसश्चापि यतः प्रसूता- स्तदुच्यतां मे भगवन् पुराणम्
bhīṣma uvāca |
mahī mahījāḥ pavano 'ntarikṣaṃ jalaukasaś caiva jalaṃ divaṃ ca |
divaukasaś cāpi yataḥ prasūtās tad ucyatāṃ me bhagavan purāṇam ||
Disse Bhīṣma: “Ó venerável, de que realidade primeva nascem a terra e tudo o que é terreno—o vento, a região intermediária (o céu), as criaturas que vivem na água, a própria água, o mundo celeste e até os deuses que habitam o céu? Dize-me, ó Senhor, qual é essa fonte antiga.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a philosophical inquiry into the single primordial source from which all elements, worlds, and beings arise, setting up a teaching on first principles (the ultimate cause behind the manifest cosmos).
Bhishma, in instruction mode during the Shanti Parva, asks a revered teacher to identify the ancient, original reality from which earth, atmosphere, water, heaven, and the gods themselves are said to originate.