Shloka 16
बक-गौतमाख्यानम् / The Baka–Gautama Account
On Gratitude and Friendship Ethics
मरीचिमृषिमत्रिं च पुलस्त्यं पुलहं क्रतुम् वसिष्ठाड़िरसौ चोभौ रुद्रं च प्रभुमी श्वरम्
bhīṣma uvāca | marīcim ṛṣim atriṃ ca pulastyaṃ pulahaṃ kratum | vasiṣṭham āṅgirasaṃ cobhau rudraṃ ca prabhum īśvaram | tad-anantaram bhagavān brahmā laukika-śarīraṃ dhārayitvā munivara-marīciṃ atriṃ pulastyaṃ pulahaṃ kratuṃ vasiṣṭham āṅgirasaṃ tathā svabhāva-aiśvarya-sampannaṃ rudraṃ—imān tejasvinaḥ putrān utpādayāmāsa ||
भीष्म उवाच—मरीचिमृषिमत्रिं च पुलस्त्यं पुलहं क्रतुम्। वसिष्ठमङ्गिरसं चोभौ रुद्रं च प्रभुमीश्वरम्—एतान् पुत्रान् भगवान् ब्रह्मा जनयामास।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents creation as an ordered emergence of spiritual authorities—great ṛṣis and Rudra—implying that dharma in the world rests on a divinely instituted lineage of wisdom (sages) and governance (īśvara/prabhu).
Bhīṣma recounts a cosmogonic sequence: Brahmā assumes a manifest body and generates luminous sons—named sages and Rudra—thereby populating the world with foundational teachers and a powerful divine principle.