Shloka 12

Devanagari script

एवं शतसहस्राणां शतं तस्य महात्मन: । पुत्राणां च न ते कंचिदिच्छन्त्यन्यं प्रजापतिम्‌

Transliteration

evaṁ śata-sahasrāṇāṁ śataṁ tasya mahātmanaḥ | putrāṇāṁ ca na te kaṁcid icchanty anyaṁ prajāpatiṁ ||

Translation

Бхишма сказал: «Так у того великодушного царя было сто групп по сто тысяч сыновей — потомство неизмеримое. И те сыновья не желали иного Владыки существ (Праджапати), кроме него одного».

Word by Word

• एवम्: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम्

• शतसहस्राणाम्: of hundreds of thousands
• शतसहस्राणाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शतसहस्र
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• शतम्: a hundred
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• तस्य: of him
• तस्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• महात्मनः: of the great-souled one
• महात्मनः: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महात्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• पुत्राणाम्: of sons
• पुत्राणाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुत्र
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• ते: they
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• कञ्चित्: any (one)
• कञ्चित्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किम्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• इच्छन्ति: desire
• Type: Verb
• Root: इष्
• Form: Present, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• अन्यम्: another
• अन्यम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्य
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• प्रजापतिम्: lord of creatures, progenitor
• प्रजापतिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रजापति
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Prajāpati
• Mahātmā (the great-souled king referred to in the narrative, identified in the surrounding passage as Śaśabindu)
• Yudhiṣṭhira (addressee in the surrounding prose context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores dharmic legitimacy in rulership: when a ruler is recognized as a rightful ‘prajāpati’—a sustaining, generative authority—subjects (here, his vast progeny) do not seek alternative allegiance. Moral authority and social stability are presented as intertwined.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma is describing the extraordinary progeny of a great king (Śaśabindu in the surrounding account): his sons were so numerous that they are counted as ‘a hundred hundred-thousands,’ and they acknowledged no other ‘prajāpati’ than him.